DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce that DIF Infrastructure III (“DIF III”) and DIF Infrastructure IV (“DIF IV”) have agreed to the sale of their stakes in a portfolio of six European PPP assets to Equitix, a leading UK and European infrastructure fund manager.
The portfolio consists of shareholdings in a number of critical infrastructure projects that DIF invested into as primary transactions: A1/A6 Road, IJmond Sea Lock and N18 Road in the Netherlands; A7 Nord Road and Netz West Rolling Stock in Germany; as well as the KAV Vienna Hospital in Austria. With the exception of IJmond Sea Lock which is currently in the final stages of construction, all of the projects are operational under availability-based contractual structures that are backed by strong public counterparties.
Andrew Freeman, Head of Exits at DIF, said: “We are very pleased with the sale of this well diversified and optimised portfolio of North-Western European PPP assets which represents an attractive exit for our DIF III and DIF IV investors. We believe Equitix is an excellent counterparty and is perfectly positioned to manage the assets until maturity.”
Hugh Crossley, Chief Investment Officer for Equitix, said: “As we continue to diversify and grow our European portfolio, we are always looking out for attractive opportunities to acquire high-quality assets that meet our responsible investment criteria. The DIF portfolio does just this and will allow us to leverage our continental expertise for the benefit of investors in our European Infrastructure Fund.”
DIF was advised on the transaction by Cantor Fitzgerald and PwC (financial), Allen & Overy (legal), PwC (tax & accounting), as well as Atkins and Arup (technical).
Equitix was advised by CMS (legal), Deloitte (tax and accounting) and Arcadis (technical).
Closing of the transaction is subject to the receipt of customary approvals and consents.
About DIF Capital Partners
DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent fund manager, with €8.5 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:
- Traditional DIF funds, of which DIF Infrastructure Fund VI is the latest vintage, target equity investments with long-term contracted or regulated income streams including public-private partnerships, concessions, utilities, and (renewable) energy projects.
- DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized economic infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
DIF Capital Partners has a team of over 160 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. For further information please visit www.dif.eu.
Contact: Allard Ruijs, Partner; a.ruijs@dif.eu.
