John Laing opens New York office

John Laing, the UK-based infrastructure investor and asset manager, has beefed up its US team and opened an office in New York.

Anthony Phillips, currently the firm’s head of Asia Pacific, will move to New York to take up the position of head of North America.

In what will be seen as a vote of confidence in the development of the US market, John Laing said in a statement that it would be hiring local staff for the new office “in order to address the growing number of opportunities in the many states that have passed public-private partnership (P3; PPP) legislation and are increasingly using P3 to deliver projects”.

John Laing is part of the Denver Transit Partners consortium, which is delivering new commuter rail lines in the Denver metropolitan area. It is also a member of the I4 Mobility Partners consortium delivering the I4 Ultimate highway widening project in Florida. The $2.3 billion ‘Ultimate’ contract was awarded last week and sees John Laing team with Skanska among others.

Phillips will take over his new role in the summer from David Rushton who is moving back to the firm’s London headquarters. Phillips has been with John Laing for nine years and held senior roles in London and Singapore before becoming head of Asia Pacific.

Justin Bailey – who has been with John Laing for three years and has 15 years’ experience of the Australian PPP market – takes over from Phillips as head of Asia Pacific.

John Laing has developed and invested in over 100 infrastructure projects during its history, 50 of these having been in the last 10 years. It has existing offices in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, as well as the UK.

The company stressed that it would retain its Toronto office and continue to pursue opportunities in the Canadian market.