Thijs Verburg, Author at DIF Capital Partners

19 August 2020 | London

DIF Capital Partners acquires majority stake in UK fibre broadband operator

DIF Capital Partners, through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund II (“DIF CIF II”), is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of a majority stake (54%) in 4th Utility, a fibre-to-the-premise (“FTTP”) infrastructure developer and internet service provider based in Hale, Manchester (UK).

4th Utility partners with residential and commercial landlords, property developers and house builders to design, install and upgrade their properties with state-of-the-art FTTP infrastructure.

4th Utility currently operates FTTP networks within a number of residential property developments in the North of England. DIF CIF II will provide significant capital to fund a large pipeline of opportunities generated by 4th Utility with their development partners throughout the UK.

“We are excited to partner with DIF Capital Partners who share our desire to invest in high-quality fibre infrastructure providing ultrafast internet access to properties across the UK. This long-term investment allows us to expand our current platform and provide ‘full fibre’ connectivity to a significant number of new customers” comments Tony Hughes, CEO of 4th Utility.

The transaction is the first investment for DIF CIF II in the UK and its third investment in the digital infrastructure sector following recent acquisitions in Canada and France. “We are pleased to bring our experience in digital infrastructure to support 4th Utility and their management team in delivering FTTP infrastructure investment to underserved properties in the UK” comments Willem Jansonius, Head of DIF CIF.

Please visit www.the4thutility.co.uk for further information.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €7.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.

DIF has a team of over 145 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Thijs Verburg, IR & BD; t.verburg@dif.eu.

17 August 2020 | Paris

DIF Capital Partners to acquire a stake in TTIA Container Terminal

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”), through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I (“CIF I”), and French shipping giant CMA CGM, are pleased to announce that they have signed a sale and purchase agreement with HMM for the acquisition of a 50% less one share stake in the TTIA Container Terminal in Algeciras, which is located on the Spanish side of the Strait of Gibraltar. TTIA is currently 100% owned by HMM, the largest South Korean shipping line.

TTIA is a modern semi-automatic container terminal, strategically located in the bay of Algeciras, at the Strait of Gibraltar directly on the main shipping routes for containerized maritime traffic to Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, North and West Africa as well as North and South America. Such a strategic location has allowed the terminal to maintain strong volumes despite the Covid-19 crisis. TTIA operates under a concession provided by the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority which runs until 2043.

TTIA will benefit from long-term support from both HMM and CMA CGM, who as major shipping companies and port operators, have decided to join forces to support and develop this strategic terminal.

Thomas Vieillescazes, partner of DIF, says: “We are delighted to initiate this partnership with CMA CGM, investing alongside world-leading shipping companies and port operators. TTIA is a modern and well-managed terminal, strategically located at the Strait of Gibraltar, with partners providing long-term volume support, making this an attractive investment for CIF I”.

The completion of the acquisition remains subject to certain conditions precedent, including antitrust and Algeciras Port Authority consents.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €7.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.

DIF has a team of over 145 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Thijs Verburg, IR & BD; t.verburg@dif.eu.

10 August 2020 | Frankfurt

DIF Capital Partners to acquire a stake in European railcar leasing company Touax Rail

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”), through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund II (“CIF II”), is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to acquire a 49% stake from the Touax Group in Touax Rail Limited (“Touax Rail” or the “Company”), a leading European rail freight leasing company, via a capital increase of €81.9 million. The investment by CIF II will enable Touax Rail to accelerate the development of its long-term leasing activities of freight wagons.

Touax Rail is offering tailor-made and environmentally friendly solutions for leasing rail equipment such as intermodal, car carrying, hopper, box and tank wagons. Services offered comprise leasing, sale and maintenance of freight railcars. The Company has a fleet size of c. 6,930 owned platforms and c. 4,080 managed platforms. Touax Rail is fully certified to manage and maintain wagons used on the mainline railway tracks in Europe.

The transaction will strengthen the position of Touax Rail by increasing its capacity to grow and finance the needs of its customers. The capital increase will be primarily used to buy out minority shareholders and to finance the acquisition of new wagons.

Fabrice Walewski, CEO of Touax Group, said: “We are very delighted to have DIF Capital Partners as partner to accompany the development of our long-term leasing activities of freight wagons. With this transaction, Touax Rail will strengthen its position in the market.”

Carl Jobst von Hoersten, partner and head of DIF Germany added: “This transaction is a unique investment providing exclusive access to the attractive railcar market. Touax Rail is a well-established, asset heavy railcar platform with a robust and resilient business model which is well-positioned for growth. We look forward working together with Touax Rail’s highly experienced management team to further grow the platform.”

The transaction is subject to approval by the German antitrust authorities. Parties expect to close the transaction by the end of September.

About Touax Group

Touax Group leases out tangible assets (freight railcars, river barges and containers) on a daily basis throughout the world, for its own account and on behalf of third party investors. With €1.2 billion under management, Touax Group is one of the European leaders in the operational leasing of this type of equipment. For more information: www.touax.com

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €7.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.

DIF has a team of over 145 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Thijs Verburg, IR & BD; t.verburg@dif.eu.

21 July 2020 | Paris

DIF Capital Partners acquires a stake in French digital infrastructure company IELO

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”), through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund II (“DIF CIF II”), is pleased to announce that it will invest in the French independent fiber optic operator IELO with the aim of contributing to its network roll-out in the coming years. DIF will enable IELO to build a nationwide footprint and become a leading fiber optic infrastructure operator in France, while remaining fully independent and a pure infrastructure player.

Resulting from the merger between IELO and LIAZO in 2016, the IELO group is positioned as a key player in the telecommunications sector in France. IELO’s fiber network is the highest quality urban optical network equipped with the latest technologies. It currently represents nearly 2,000 km of fiber, covering 30 metropolitan areas and connects more than 1,000 companies. Due to the significantly growing digitalisation requirements of companies the market is rapidly expanding. DIF’s capital injections will further accelerate the strong development of the fiber network of IELO in France.

As a long-term shareholder, DIF and IELO founders plan to invest together €90 million over the next few years to triple the size of IELO’s network by deploying more than 4,500 km of fiber (increasing it to 6,500 km total) in 95 French cities and economic zones. This acquisition perfectly fits CIF II’s strategy to invest in high-quality telecom infrastructure businesses.

Arthur Fernandez IELO co-founder and CEO said: “IELO is now at a turning point in its development and the long-term support provided by DIF represents a tremendous accelerator to achieve our ambitions of scaling up the strategy we have been successfully implementing in recent years. We intend to consolidate our position as a key independent wholesale operator in the fiber optics business with the aim of expanding our French client base to further gain market share.”

Thomas Vieillescazes, partner and head of DIF France added: “DIF has been investing heavily in the telecommunications sector in Europe and North America for several years, particularly in projects related to data centers and fiber optics. This investment is therefore in line with our strategy of investing in the high-potential digital infrastructure market, especially in the growing B2B business. We believe IELO, being a dedicated wholesale infrastructure provider, and the only one with a nationwide development strategy, is a perfect fit for DIF CIF II: it’s a pure infrastructure play with a greenfield component, for which DIF will bring to bear its longstanding experience in the French market. We have particular trust in IELO’s managers and their teams and are delighted to support the group in its development to become a key player in a growing market.”

About IELO

The IELO group markets enterprise access products through offers exclusively for telecom operators (the so-called “wholesale only” market). Operating its own optical cable network, IELO has an extensive coverage area covering some thirty of France’s largest conurbations, i.e. 161 municipalities in 23 departments. Since 2014, IELO has been implementing a strong strategy of rolling out its own network through an investment plan and a sustained pace of deployment, in order to extend its position in France. To find out more: www.ielo.com

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €7.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.

DIF has a team of over 140 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Thomas Vieillescazes, Partner; t.vieillescazes@dif.eu and Thijs Verburg, IR & BD; t.verburg@dif.eu.

24 April 2020 | Schiphol

DIF Capital Partners closes refinancing Finnish district heating network

DIF Capital Partners is pleased to announce the closing of the refinancing of Loimua’s (formerly known as Elenia Heat) acquisition debt facilities.

DIF Capital Partners, together with its partners LPP Infrastructure and Aberdeen Standard Investments, acquired Loimua in July 2019 with DIF Infrastructure V (link to original press release). Loimua is the second largest private supplier of district heating in Finland, providing environmentally sustainable heating to residential, commercial and public sector customers. The company owns and operates 640 MW of heat production capacity across 16 networks, covering circa 500 kilometers and circa 4,600 supply points (85,000 end-users).

Through the refinancing of the acquisition facilities Loimua established a common terms multi tenor debt platform including long term bank debt and 10, 12, and 14 year private placement tranches from institutional debt providers, alongside working capital facilities for general and capex financing purposes. The refinancing further de-risks the company’s long term capital structure and provides operational flexibility to deliver growth in line with the business plan. The transaction was concluded at favourable terms and covenants, emphasizing that there is still strong support from debt providers for stable and sustainable businesses such as Loimua despite the recent capital market developments.

DIF Capital Partners and its partners were advised by DC Advisory (financial) and Shearman& Sterling (Legal).

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.7 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.

DIF has a team of over 140 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Allard Ruijs, Partner; a.ruijs@dif.eu.

20 April 2020 | Toronto

DIF Capital Partners invests in Canadian fiber optic networks build out

DIF Capital Partners, through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund II (“DIF CIF II”), is pleased to announce that it has completed a majority investment into Valley Fiber Ltd (“Valley Fiber”) to build fiber-to-the-home (“FttH”) and fiber-to-the-business (“FttB”) networks in Manitoba, Canada.

Based in Winkler, Manitoba, Valley Fiber is a telecommunications infrastructure company that specializes in the development, construction and operations of fiber and fixed-wireless infrastructure for residential and commercial use. Valley Fiber has received support from municipal and federal levels of government in Canada. DIF Capital Partners’ investment will allow Valley Fiber to connect more than 15,000 homes and businesses to fiber over the next two years. The transaction contemplates a conservative capital structure which provides additional financial resiliency in the current environment.

Valley Fiber was incorporated in 2016 and has successfully built a presence in Southern Manitoba, constructing high quality telecommunications infrastructure to service the historically underserved communities. Valley Fiber currently operates in more than 20 municipalities in Manitoba. The transaction also includes the acquisition of 40 operating fixed-wireless towers.

“The Valley Fiber team is extremely excited to have found a long-term partner that shares the same values and vision of how to bring the best-in-class fiber and telecommunication infrastructure to the region. With the support from the Canadian government and our financial partner DIF Capital Partners, we look forward to usher in a new generation of economic development and diversity to Southern Manitoba” comments Hank Wall, CEO of Valley Fiber.

The transaction is the first investment for DIF CIF II and underlines the key strategic focus to invest in digital infrastructure. “We are pleased with our long-term investment into the Valley Fiber platform for the roll out of fiber in rural Canada. This is an excellent opportunity for DIF CIF II to invest in a high growth company with a strong management team and to further expand our presence into the fast-growing telecom infrastructure sector” comments Willem Jansonius, Head of DIF CIF.

DIF Capital Partners was advised by Agentis Capital (financial) and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg (legal).

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.7 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.

DIF has a team of over 140 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

6 April 2020 | Toronto

DIF Capital Partners sells its stake in Royal Jubilee Hospital

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce the sale of its stake in Royal Jubilee Hospital to its co-shareholder Innisfree by DIF Infrastructure III (“DIF III”).

Royal Jubilee Hospital is a PPP hospital located in Victoria, Canada and was DIF’s first PPP investment in North America. The project consists of the design, construction, financing, maintenance and operations of the hospital during 30 years from construction completion which was in December 2010. The facility includes 500 beds and provides inpatient services to medical/surgical patients and patients suffering from mental health and addiction issues.

Andrew Freeman, Head of Exits, said: “We are very pleased to have been able to complete another strong exit, underpinning the high quality and stable nature of our assets also during uncertain times.”

DIF was advised by DLA Piper (Canada) LLP (legal).

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.7 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

6 February 2020 | London

DIF Capital Partners sells portfolio of UK PPP assets

DIF Infrastructure III (“DIF III”) and DIF Infrastructure IV (“DIF IV”) are pleased to announce the sale of their stakes in a portfolio of eight UK PPP assets to Equitix, a UK-based infrastructure fund manager.

The portfolio includes significant stakes in the following operational PPP projects: North Kent Police Headquarters, Worcester Library & History Centre, Yorkshire Housing, Grove Village Housing, Stanhope Housing, Leeds Streetlighting, Newcastle & North Tyneside Streetlighting and Stoke Streetlighting.

Andrew Freeman, Head of Exits, said: “This transaction represents a good result from an efficient process for both DIF III and DIF IV. The sale of these assets continues our strategy of selling optimised assets from our more mature funds.”

DIF was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills (legal).

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.0 billion of assets under management across eight closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

15 January 2020 | Sydney

DIF Capital Partners to invest in South Australian Schools PPP

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce that the TESA Education consortium, comprising DIF Infrastructure V, Tetris Capital, Sarah Construction and ISS Facility Services, has reached financial close on the South Australian PPP Schools (“SA Schools”) project in Adelaide, Australia.

The SA Schools project involves the design, build, finance and maintenance of two new schools located ~40km north and south of Adelaide, respectively. Both schools will accommodate 1,500 students and will cater for an additional 100 students with learning difficulties. The schools will include community hubs, performing arts centres, gyms, sporting facilities, libraries and entrepreneurial hubs.

The availability-based project with the AA+ rated South Australian Department of Treasury and Finance has a tenor of 30 years, including a 28-year operational period.

Design and construction works will be undertaken by Sarah Construction and the facilities will be maintained by ISS Facility Services. Both schools are expected to open before the start of the 2022 academic year.

Marko Kremer, Partner and DIF’s Head of Australasia added: “DIF is excited to invest in this new schools project, which will provide modern educational facilities in fast-growing regions of the South Australian community and thereby contribute to the socioeconomic development of the region.”

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.0 billion of assets under management across eight closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

10 January 2020 | Paris

DIF Capital Partners agrees to sell a portfolio of French PPPs

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce that DIF Infrastructure III (“DIF III”) has agreed to sell a portfolio of eight operational PPPs in France to 3i European Operational Projects Fund.

The portfolio consists of significant shareholdings in three educational facility projects, one multimodal train station project, one fire station project (consisting of 12 fire stations), two prison projects (consisting of three prison facilities each) and one sewer project. The projects are operational under availability-based and long term contracts, with the exception of the sewer concession project, and are all backed by strong public counterparties. Six of the eight projects were developed and acquired by DIF III as greenfield projects, and have been successfully managed into stable operational projects during DIF’s ownership.

Andrew Freeman, Head of Exits, said: “We are pleased with the sale of the portfolio that was successfully optimized throughout the life of the assets and exited via a competitive portfolio sales process. The sale represents a further underpinning of DIF’s long standing track record in the French infrastructure market and is an attractive exit for DIF III.”

DIF was advised by KPMG (M&A, Tax & Accounting), Allen & Overy (Legal) and Currie & Brown (Technical) and Egis (Technical for the sewer project).

Closing of the transaction is subject to receipt of certain customary project-counterparty approvals and antitrust consent.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.0 billion of assets under management across eight closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

7 January 2020 | Schiphol

DIF Capital Partners appoints a new Partner

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Anne Snel to Partner. Her promotion from Managing Director to Partner is in response to her personal contribution to the success and growth of the firm.

Anne Snel is Head of Risk, Legal and Compliance. She joined DIF in 2018 and was previously Head of Integrated Risk at Rabobank. She also worked at De Nederlandsche Bank as Senior Supervisor and interim Department Head. Before this, she held a variety of roles at ABN AMRO Bank over the course of her 16-year career there, including ~5 years as senior investment manager in the private equity team. Anne holds a Bachelor of Arts in Financial Administration from Michigan State University, a Master’s of Business Administration in General Management from the Erasmus University, and has attended executive education in General and Risk Management at both the London Business School and INSEAD.

Speaking on behalf of the other Partners, Managing Partner Wim Blaasse said, “We are pleased to see Anne being promoted to Partner. She has demonstrated her strength and suitability for leadership and this partner promotion furthermore underlines DIF’s focus on risk management and compliance. She will continue to play a leading role in the further build-out of the DIF platform”.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.0 billion of assets under management across eight closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, Partner
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

23 December 2019 | Santiago

DIF Capital Partners closes acquisition of Cerro Grande wind farm in Uruguay

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”), through its most recent fund DIF Infrastructure V, is pleased to announce the 100% acquisition of the 50 MW Cerro Grande wind farm in Uruguay from Enercon and eab New Energy.

The project, comprising 22 turbines, has been operational since January 2018 and benefits from a 20-year power purchase agreement with UTE, Uruguay’s state-owned utility. The project will continue to be maintained by Enercon under a long-term agreement and asset management services continue to be delivered by SEG Heliotec.

Following the recent opening of its Latin American office in Santiago (Chile), this marks DIF’s first investment in Uruguay and fits well within DIF’s mandate as the investment is in an operational wind project with long-term contracted off-take.

Daniel Aninat, Managing Director and head of DIF’s South American operations added: “We are very pleased to acquire our first renewable energy project in South America. The transaction is the result of our strong relationship with Enercon and we believe this investment is attractive for DIF’s investors due to the long-term project agreements that provide a high degree of predictability of future cash flows.”

DIF has been advised by Voltiq (financial), Hughes & Hughes and Gómez-Acebo & Pombo (legal), DNV GL (technical), KPMG (tax) and Mazars (model audit). Enercon was advised by Ficus Capital.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €6.0 billion of assets under management across eight closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams.

DIF has a team of over 135 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact:
Thijs Verburg, Investor Relations & Business Development
Email: t.verburg@dif.eu