11 June 2018  |  London

DIF sells a stake in the A63 toll road project in France

DIF Infrastructure III and DIF Infrastructure IV are pleased to announce that they have jointly signed an agreement with HICL Infrastructure Company Limited, the listed infrastructure investment company advised by InfraRed Capital Partners Limited, to sell a 7.2% indirect stake in Atlandes, the project company which holds the A63 road concession project. The acquisition is not subject to any further conditions and will complete later this month.

The project is a 40-year toll concession to design, build, finance, operate and maintain an upgraded 104km section of the A63 highway between Salles and Saint-Geours-de-Maremne in southwest France. The project was fully commissioned in November 2013, seven months ahead of plan. In June 2015 the project’s senior debt was successfully refinanced with long term debt.

DIF Infrastructure IV will continue to hold a 9.22% stake in the A63 project.

Andrew Freeman, Head of Exits, said: “This is an attractive exit for DIF III and DIF IV, following the successful exit of the whole portfolio of DIF II and a number of DIF III assets which completed last September. In the next 12 months DIF is proactively targeting to sell further assets from its more mature funds taking advantage of strong demand for high quality core infrastructure projects in mature markets.”

DIF were advised by De Pardieu Brocas Maffei (Legal).

About DIF

DIF is an independent and specialist infrastructure investor and fund manager, with €5.6 billion assets under management across seven closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in the global infrastructure market through two differentiated and complementary strategies:

  • DIF Infrastructure V targets equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, regulated assets and renewable energy projects which have long-term contracted or regulated income streams that generate stable and predictable cash flows. The fund targets both greenfield and brownfield projects in primarily Europe, North America and Australasia.
  • DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I targets equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in amongst others the energy, transportation and telecom sectors which generate stable and predictable cash flows that are protected through mid-term contracted income streams. The fund targets greenfield and brownfield investments in Europe, North America and Australasia.

DIF has a team of over 95 professionals in eight offices, located in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Sydney and Toronto, through which it covers its target markets with dedicated local teams. Please see www.dif.eu for further information.

For more information by press and investors, please contact:

Allard Ruijs
Partner, Head of Investor Relations and Business Development
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

For more information about further exits, please contact:

Andrew Freeman
Managing Director, Head of Exits
Email: a.freeman@dif.eu

22 May 2017  |  London

DIF completes the acquisition of Affinity Water

DIF Infrastructure IV is pleased to announce that its consortium, following the announcement made on 2 May 2017, completed the 100% acquisition of the Affinity Water Group on 19 May 2017.

DIF’s share in the consortium is 26.9%, which in addition comprises of Allianz Capital Partners on behalf of Allianz Group (36.6%) and HICL Infrastructure Company Limited (the listed infrastructure investment company advised by InfraRed Capital Partners Limited) (36.6%).

Affinity Water is the United Kingdom’s largest water only supply company by revenue and population served. It is licenced under the Water Industry Act 1991 and regulated by Ofwat, ensuring long term stable income streams. Affinity Water owns and manages the water assets and network in an area of approximately 4,515 km² in the southeast of England, split over three regions, comprising eight separate water resource zones. The company is the sole supplier of drinking water in these areas. Affinity Water supplies, on average, 900 million litres of water a day to over 3.6 million people, serving 1.5 million homes and businesses, together with operating 98 water treatment works.

DIF Profile

DIF is an independent and specialist fund management company, managing funds of approximately €3.7 billion. DIF invests in infrastructure assets that generate long term stable cash flows, including PPP / PFI / P3, regulated infrastructure assets and renewable energy projects in Europe, North America and Australia. DIF has offices in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Luxembourg, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney.

For more information, please contact:

Paul Nash, Partner
Email: p.nash@dif.eu

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

2 May 2017  |  London

DIF together with its consortium partners acquires Affinity Water

DIF Infrastructure IV together with its consortium partners HICL Infrastructure Company Limited (advised by Infrared Capital Partners Limited) and Allianz Capital Partners on behalf of Allianz Group has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interest in Affinity Water Acquisitions (Investments) Limited  (“Affinity Water”) from funds managed by Morgan Stanley and InfraCapital. DIF initiated the process and was subsequently joined by its consortium partners. The transaction is expected to complete in May 2017.

Affinity Water is the United Kingdom’s largest water only supply company by revenue and population served. It is licenced under the Water Industry Act 1991 and regulated by Ofwat. Affinity Water owns and manages the water assets and network in an area of approximately 4,515 km², split over three regions, comprising eight separate water resource zones, in the southeast of England. The company is the sole supplier of drinking water in these areas. Affinity Water supplies, on average, 900 million litres of water a day to over 3.6 million people, serving 1.5 million homes and businesses, together with operating 98 water treatment works.

DIF Profile

DIF is an independent and specialist fund management company, managing funds of approximately €3.7 billion. DIF invests in infrastructure assets that generate long term stable cash flows, including PPP / PFI / P3, regulated infrastructure assets and renewable energy projects in Europe, North America and Australia. DIF has offices in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Luxembourg, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney.

For more information, please contact:

Paul Nash, Partner
Email: p.nash@dif.eu

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

12 April 2017  |  London

DIF closes two additional UK PFI Streetlighting projects

DIF Infrastructure IV is pleased to announce that it has acquired from SSE PLC (“SSE”) a 100% interest in the Leeds and Stoke PFI Streetlighting projects located in the two metropolitan boroughs of Leeds and Stroke-on-Trent (the “Projects”).

Today’s announcement follows the earlier announcement at the end of March 2017, when DIF acquired the Newcastle & North Tyneside UK PFI Streetlighting project.

The Leeds project consists of circa 105,000 street lighting assets and the Stoke project consists of approximately 40,000. The Projects are availability based and have all been operating for over 5 years. The concessions run till respectively 2031 and 2028, and the Projects benefit from long term financing provided by RBS. Operations and lifecycle will continue being performed by an affiliate of SSE under a long term contract.

DIF has been advised by Operis (Financial), WSP (Technical) and Osborne Clarke (Legal).

DIF Profile

DIF is an independent and specialist fund management company, managing funds of approximately €3.7 billion. DIF invests in infrastructure assets that generate long term stable cash flows, including PPP / PFI / P3, regulated infrastructure assets and renewable energy projects in Europe, North America and Australia. DIF has offices in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Luxembourg, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney.

For more information, please contact:

Paul Nash, Partner
Email: p.nash@dif.eu

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

27 March 2017  |  London

DIF closes UK PFI streetlighting transaction

DIF Infrastructure IV is pleased to announce that it has acquired from SSE PLC (“SSE”) a 100% interest in the Newcastle & North Tyneside UK PFI Streetlighting project located in the two metropolitan boroughs of Newcastle and North Tyneside (the “Project”).

This is the first of the three UK PFI Streetlighting projects (the “Projects”) that DIF has agreed to acquire from SSE and consists of over 40,000 street lighting assets in Newcastle and over 30,000 street lighting assets in North Tyneside.

The other two Projects are located in Leeds and Stoke on Trent and are expected to close in the coming weeks. The Projects are availability based and have all been operating for over 5 years. All Projects benefit from long term financing provided by RBS. Operations and lifecycle will continue being performed by an affiliate of SSE under a long term contract.

Paul Nash, DIF’s head of Infrastructure: “We are pleased to be adding the Newcastle and North Tyneside Streetlighting PFI to our portfolio of investments. Streetlighting PPP is a sector that DIF understands well and we look forward to working with our operational partner SSE, who we consider to be a high quality developer, owner and operator”.

DIF is being advised by Operis (Financial), WSP (technical) and Osborne Clarke (Legal).

DIF Profile

DIF is an independent and specialist fund management company, managing funds of approximately €3.5 billion. DIF invests in infrastructure assets that generate long term stable cash flows, including PPP / PFI / P3 and renewable energy assets in Europe, North America and Australia. DIF has offices in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Luxembourg, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney. For more information, please contact:

For more information, please contact:

Paul Nash, Partner
Email: p.nash@dif.eu

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