Marguerite, HICL reach close on €550m Irish PPP

The Marguerite Fund and HICL Investment Company have reached financial close on the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam public-private partnership (PPP), a €550 million motorway project.

Bank of Ireland, the European Investment Bank, Natixis and Société Générale have clubbed together to provide a debt package of more than €300 million.

The project involves the financing, design, construction and operation of a new 57-kilometre dual carriageway section of the N17/N18 near Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, for the National Roads Authority of Ireland (NRA). It forms part of the Atlantic road corridor, a route network providing north-south linkage in the western region.

The Marguerite Fund holds a 50 percent stake in the project, while HICL shares the remainder of the equity with developers John Sisk and Son, the Lagan Group, Roadbridge and Strabag. Construction will start later this year, with the road expected to be completed during 2017. The consortium will receive availability payments from the NRA during the 25-year operating period.

The PPP, the tenth investment for Marguerite, is also its first in Ireland. The €710 million fund was launched in 2010 with the backing of the EIB, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Instituto de Crédito Oficial, KfW and PKO Bank Polski.

HICL was the first infrastructure investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange when it launched in 2006. It now has a market capitalisation of around £1.5 billion (€1.8 billion; $2.5 billion) and a total of 93 assets in its portfolio.