HICL buys into more Manchester PFI schemes
A STOCK market-listed infrastructure investment company has bought into two major private finance initiative (PFI) funded projects in Greater Manchester.
HICL Infrastructure Company has bought a 50% equity and loan note interest in the Salford Hospital PFI project, which completed last year, from Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Investments.
It has also acquired a 33.3% interest in a Miles Platting social housing scheme, which involves refurbishing 1,500 homes and also completed last year, from Morgan Sindall.
The value of these deals was not disclosed but HICL said it had spent £107.9m acquiring these stakes and two others: a 75% stake of a Gloucester Fire & Rescue project from Kier and a 12.5% interest in a MoD project at Salisbury Plain.
In May it paid £16m for a 50% stake in the Tameside General Hospital private finance initiative (PFI) project.
Tony Roper, head of secondary infrastructure at InfraRed Capital Partners, the company’s investment adviser, said: “These acquisitions form part of the exclusive pipeline reported in the company’s annual results and are in line with its stated investment strategy.”
Under PFI, private-sector firms cover the cost of the work and the public sector pays them back over an extended period – both for the construction and ongoing management. HICL is listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Guernsey.
