HICL Infrastructure (HICL) has completed investments worth £103m in the following: 1.) the acquisition of a further 74% interest in Holdfast Training Services (a PPP project that supports the Royal School of Military Engineering) and 2.) the acquisition of the transmission assets associated with the Walney Extension Offshore Windfarm (located in the Irish Sea). The investments have been financed by existing resources and HICL’s revolving credit facility.
- The Holdfast Training Services investment – The 30-year PPP was signed in August 2008 and covers the design, construction, refurbishment and maintenance of a number of buildings and training areas across three UK locations on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence. Construction was completed in 2015. A subsidiary of Babcock will continue to provide hard and soft facilities management, as well as specialist training and training support services. HICL acquired an initial 26% interest in Holdfast in 2014 and, with completion of this incremental investment, will hold a 100% interest.
- The Walney Extension Offshore Windfarm acquisition – The acquiring party is Diamond Transmission Partners (DTP), which is a consortium comprising HICL, Diamond Transmission Corporation (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation) and Chubu Electric Power Company Netherlands B.V. (a subsidiary of Chubu Electric Power Company). HICL previously announced DTP’s status as preferred bidder for the OFTO in March 2019.
Reaction from, Harry Seekings, co-head of infrastructure at InfraRed (HICL’s investment advisor): “The Walney OFTO is supporting the UK’s transition to a low carbon future through the provision of green energy to over 600,000 UK homes, while the RSME PPP supports access to high quality education and training to approximately 7,000 service personnel annually for the Ministry of Defence. Both investments are accretive to the existing portfolio, particularly in relation to their forecast yield.”
HICL: HICL Infrastructure completes investments worth £103m