JLIF boosts stake in Barcelona Metro

John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) has agreed to acquire 13.5 percent of the Barcelona Metro Stations Line 9 Section II project from Spanish developer Acsa.

The stake will add to the 40 percent of the asset JLIF bought from Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras, a subsidiary of Madrid-based ACS, in January 2016. It comes alongside the fund’s separate purchase of a 13.5 percent interest in Section IV of the same line, also from Acsa.

JLIF will deploy around £50 million ($72 million; €63 million) in equity, funded through its undrawn £180 million multi-currency revolving credit facility, to acquire the new stakes. The deal is expected to complete in the coming weeks.

“JLIF is pleased to have furthered its presence in the Spanish market and to have done so via an exclusive process based on a relationship with a co-shareholder,” said Andrew Charlesworth, a director at John Laing Capital Management, JLIF’s investment adviser.

In February, the fund announced plans to issue 81.2 million new shares through a placement on the London Stock Exchange. The proceeds were earmarked to repay the debt facility it used to finance the January metro deal, its first Spanish PPP.