bfinance hires KPMG pundit to boost infra advisory

Consultancy bfinance has appointed Anish Butani as a senior researcher to cover infrastructure within its growing private markets team.

London-based Butani joins from KPMG, where he spent more than eight years as a senior member of its infrastructure corporate finance team, advising investors on M&A transactions and valuations, with a specific focus on secondary market M&A in the UK PFI and PPP sector.

He also provided advice to several infrastructure fund managers on valuations in sectors spanning regulated utilities, renewable energy, transport and social infrastructure. Butani was most recently on a client secondment at John Laing, the London-listed developer, where he led divestment activities on a number of deals over the last year.

In 2016, John Laing exited a minority share in Poland’s A1 for €146.9 million to First State and sold its project management unit to HCP Management Services.

“The performance of infrastructure since the global financial crisis has demonstrated the resilience of an asset class that will stand the test of time. As the sector continues to grow and evolve, it is clear that infrastructure funds will play an increasingly important component within institutional portfolios,” Butani commented.

bfinance’s infrastructure unit will grow to four as he takes on his role, which the consultancy said was a response to “rising investor demand for the asset class”.