Nabarro has advised FTSE 250 international PPP infrastructure investment company John Laing Infrastructure Fund Limited (JLIF) on its £92.9m placing. The net proceeds of the placing will be principally used to repay the Group's revolving credit facility which, following the acquisition of a 40% stake in the Barcelona Line 9 Section II metro project announced in January 2016, is £84.5 million drawn. The balance will be used for general working capital purposes and/or to fund further acquisitions.
JLIF has a strong pipeline and continues to evaluate acquisition opportunities from vendors in the UK, the USA and the developed European market. It is also in advanced discussions on acquisitions totalling approximately £150 million of assets that fit its investment policy. A substantial proportion of these are PPP projects across Western Europe (predominantly availability-based), and the remainder comprise UK availability-based social infrastructure PPP projects.
The secondary PPP market experienced something of an adjustment in geographical focus in 2015. With the increase in activity in Continental Europe, as well as the establishment of pipelines in North America and Asia Pacific, the main source of opportunities predominantly came from Southern and Western Europe, with Northern and Eastern Europe also showing signs of developing short and medium term pipelines.
Paul Lester, Chairman of JLIF, said:
"JLIF has grown consistently since launch. We have now successfully raised over £900 million of primary equity since 2010, whilst delivering a 53% total return for shareholders over that time. Our focus continues to be on delivering a stable and secure income for our shareholders by investing in low risk, high yielding assets. This placing is in line with JLIF's stated strategy and will allow us to repay the debt drawn for the recent acquisition of a stake in the Barcelona Metro project, an important step in the next phase of our international growth."
The Nabarro team acting on the placing was led by Corporate partner Kristy Duane assisted by associate Ross Hockley and US counsel David Rivera.
Commenting on the transaction, Corporate partner and head of infrastructure, Kristy Duane said:
"Our corporate and infrastructure teams have been working with JLIF for many years and we were delighted to support the company on the recent placing. The appetite for infrastructure investment continues to grow as midsized pension funds, large institutions and sovereign wealth funds continue to invest in European infrastructure. Countries such as France and Spain seem to be more and more active. We look forward to assisting JLIF with its international growth plans.”
Mourant Ozannes acted for JLIF Guernsey, Norton Rose advised JP Morgan Cazenove and Freshfields acted for John Laing Capital Management.
