Patrick Trears

AMP Capital has launched a new Infrastructure Debt Asia Pacific strategy to help investors from around the world capitalise on emerging growth opportunities in the region, as demand for basic infrastructure in developing economies continues to increase.

The strategy will target infrastructure mezzanine debt opportunities in both developed and developing countries in Asia Pacific. A new dedicated team based in Singapore and Sydney will leverage the experience and relationships built over the last 20 years through AMP Capital’s successful Infrastructure Debt Fund series to source attractive investment opportunities in sectors including energy, transportation, utilities, and digital infrastructure across Asia Pacific for its global investor base.

AMP Capital’s Global Head of Infrastructure Debt, Patrick Trears, commented: “I am delighted to announce the launch of this new and exciting addition to our global infrastructure debt portfolio. The new capability to be headed up by an experienced Partner in our business, Simon La Greca, reflects both the growing interest in the asset class by investors across the world who continue to seek out stable, yield-focused opportunities in increasingly volatile market conditions, and the tremendous growth in infrastructure investment across Asia.”

AMP Capital’s Head of Infrastructure Debt Asia, Simon La Greca, said: “Infrastructure Debt Asia will build on AMP Capital’s historic focus and provide mezzanine debt, typically used to bridge the gap between senior debt and equity funding, to both infrastructure construction projects and established businesses.

“The strategy will capitalise on our strong global relationships with infrastructure equity sponsors who are also increasingly active in the region. We recognise there is currently a funding gap for infrastructure projects in Asia, and that’s why we are making the region a key strategic priority. AMP Capital already has a strong track record in infrastructure debt across North America and Europe – the Asia strategy will form the third pillar of our global infrastructure debt business,” said Mr La Greca.

AMP Capital has already completed deals in Asia Pacific including a A$210 million (US$145 million) mezzanine debt investment with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners to support the acquisition of one of Taiwan’s leading offshore wind farm developers, Swancor Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. The investment supports the construction of a new 376-megawatt offshore wind farm called Formosa II.

The new Infrastructure Debt Asia strategy is announced following last year’s record US$6.2 billion (A$9.6 billion) fundraise for AMP Capital’s fourth infrastructure debt strategy. Since 2001, AMP Capital’s Infrastructure debt team has invested more than US$8.8 billion in 80 assets globally.

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The appointments expand the leadership group to reflect AMP Capital’s strategy to grow in the world’s largest asset management markets and ensure both clients and investment expertise are represented.

AMP Capital CEO Boe Pahari said: “AMP Capital’s success will be determined by our global representation, client centricity and strong heritage and foundation, and the appointments we have made today reflect that. We are building a client-led, globally integrated investment platform to further increase access to global capital and drive collaboration across our teams to deliver better outcomes for clients.

“We are drawing on the talents within our business and seeking to bring a diversity of views to the leadership group. This group will develop and execute AMP Capital’s new strategy. I’m excited by what we will achieve together, as we continue to export our investment excellence to a global market, particularly in real assets.”

Summary of the changes:

• Patrick Trears has been appointed Global Head of Infrastructure Debt, based in the US. The appointment reflects the importance of North America in infrastructure debt, which is one of our largest markets for current and potential clients and deal opportunities. Patrick, who is currently Head of Infrastructure Debt in the US, will succeed Andrew Jones, who will now leave AMP Capital.
• Tim Smith has been appointed Head of International Distribution. Currently head of American and European distribution, Tim will be elevated to the leadership group.
• Aideen O’Donovan has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, replacing Adrian Williams, who is stepping down from his role as the Acting Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer (COO) for personal reasons. Aideen is currently Head of Finance and will join the leadership group.
• Simon Joiner has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, picking up Adrian Williams’ COO duties. Simon is currently COO in the North West region and will expand his remit and join the leadership group. Adrian will take on the role of Global Transition Manager to oversee the separation of the functions until the end of the year.
• Simon Ellis, currently Partner, Infrastructure Equity has been appointed as Head of Americas. Partners Infrastructure Equity, Matt Evans and Ruben Bhagobati have been appointed Co-Heads of Europe. These three new roles in key international markets will look to drive growth across their respective regions, beyond their own investment capability roles.
• After five successful years of building the Real Estate business, Carmel Hourigan has decided to leave AMP Capital to take up a new role at Charter Hall. A process to replace Carmel has already commenced and Carmel will remain in the role to manage an orderly handover of responsibilities.
• With Madeleine Mac Mahon’s decision to resign after 12 years with the business, Lisa Hurley and Lauren Crystal, currently AMP Capital People & Culture Business Partners, have been appointed Co-Heads of People & Culture. Lisa and Lauren will be members of the leadership group.

There are no changes to the roles of: Managing Director Asia Pacific, Craig Keary; Global Head of Public Markets, Simon Warner; General Counsel, Yen Hui Tie; and Chief Risk Officer, Natalie Kooyman, who will all remain members of the leadership group.

Mr Pahari said: “I’d like to thank Madeleine and Adrian for the important role they have played in the development of AMP Capital. Andrew has done an outstanding job to build our infrastructure debt business, particularly the success of the IDF series. They each leave with our best wishes. I’d also like to congratulate Carmel on her new role and wish her every success for her new challenge.

“Pleasingly we’re able to take advantage of the deep pools of internal talent, and combined with our established leadership group, we will continue to build upon our culture underpinned by performance, excellence and inclusion.”

The leadership group announced today will develop and deliver AMP Capital’s strategy, to be announced at AMP’s Half Year results on 13 August 2020.

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Mr Heinen joins from CIBC Capital Markets, where he was an analyst covering project and acquisition finance transactions in the infrastructure sector. Prior to that, he was a credit analyst at Moody’s Investors Service. He has an MSc in Economics & Management from the London School of Economics and is a CFA charterholder.

Prior to joining AMP Capital, Mr Frances worked at Citigroup as an Investment Banking Associate where he structured, analysed and underwrote project finance credit transactions in the transportation, power, energy and midstream sectors across the Americas. Mr Frances holds a Bachelor in Economics from Boston College.

Commenting on the hires, Global Head of Infrastructure Debt Andrew Jones said: “We are seeing great demand from investors in our infrastructure debt strategy and have made significant deployments this year. We are delighted to welcome our new associates as we strengthen and grow the global team, allowing us to continue to find highly attractive investment opportunities on behalf of our clients.”

AMP Capital’s infrastructure debt now comprises 16 people in London, New York and Sydney.

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Patrick Trears

AMP Capital has announced it will provide a US$190 million term loan to EQT Infrastructure-owned Synagro, the leading US provider of residuals management solutions.

Founded in 1986 and based in Baltimore, Maryland, Synagro is a core infrastructure company with an asset-based business model delivering an essential service to more than 600 municipal customers in 37 states and the District of Columbia. The company owns or operates 21 dryers, incinerators and compost facilities that help customers beneficially reuse their biosolids. The company is also the largest US player servicing municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Synagro relies on relationships stretching back 20 years and its deep expertise to develop trusted partnerships cemented by long-term agreements with their municipal customer base. Over 60 per cent of US municipalities outsource their biosolids treatment and disposal obligations.

The debt facility will be used to refinance the company’s outstanding Term Loan B and to finance ongoing growth projects.

The investment, held through AMP Capital’s Infrastructure Debt Fund III (IDF III), marks the fund’s first investment in wastewater processing and is in line with the fund’s strategy to invest in long-term assets in the utilities, telecommunications, energy and transport sectors.

AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Partner Patrick Trears commented: “Water and wastewater is a core area of focus for our strategy due to the essential nature of water assets and their insulation from cyclical trends.

“We are thrilled to be partnered with Synagro, which has a market-leading position and excellent operational capabilities. EQT Infrastructure has de-risked the company during its ownership by renewing key contracts and winning new long-term business, including concessions of 20 and 30 years in Canada.

“We are pleased to add this new investment to our infrastructure debt portfolio on behalf of our investors around the world.”

The transaction marks the continued success of IDF III, which closed to new investment in 2017 after reaching its hard cap of US$2.5 billion, believed to be one of the largest fundraises in the world for an infrastructure debt strategy.

AMP Capital’s Infrastructure Debt team has 15 investment professionals located in London, New York and Sydney. The team has invested more than US$5 billion in 65 infrastructure debt assets since 2001.

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Marc Cormier.

La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”), one of North America’s largest institutional investors, and global investment manager AMP Capital announce that they will provide US$500 million of financing to Tillman Infrastructure (“Tillman”), an American developer and owner of telecommunication tower infrastructure.

This initial investment will help finance the construction of new telecommunications towers across the United States. These new structures will satisfy demand for coverage in additional locations, provide new service opportunities for carriers, and increase the overall communications infrastructure in the US. Under this agreement, the investment could eventually reach up to US$1 billion based on future growth needs.

Founded in 2016 and based in New York, Tillman builds, owns and operates a portfolio of cell towers, which are core infrastructure assets used by wireless carriers to relay their cellular signals to mobile subscribers. Tillman began construction on its first sites in late 2017 and is actively building in over three dozen states across the US.

In the next few years, mobile service providers plan on spending 15 to 20% of their revenue on capital expenditure to meet the growing demand from consumers and to cater to ever-increasing mobile data traffic. This represents approximately US$40 billion in yearly investment. M&A activity within the sector is expected to increase the expenditure of telecom companies looking to capture the significant potential of 5G and the data market.

Marc Cormier, Executive Vice-President, Fixed Income at CDPQ, said: “With Tillman’s strong leadership and seasoned experts, along with our partner AMP Capital, we look forward to contributing to Tillman’s great potential. It has a competitive product that delivers coast-to-coast speed and efficiency. The company will only continue to benefit from a growing demand for data that will drive mobile infrastructure spending and development for years to come.”

AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Partner Patrick Trears said: “With the investment in Tillman, we are pleased to add another terrific asset to the portfolio for our investors around the world. We see strong value in the North American telecommunications infrastructure market and expect it will be a driver of future growth for our platform. The proliferation of data globally will see an increasing demand for telecommunication infrastructure and Tillman is well-positioned to capitalise on the growth opportunity. The transaction marks the second investment in telecommunications infrastructure in the region since the close of AMP Capital’s Infrastructure Debt Fund III last year and highlights the strength of our partnerships with leading institutional investors like CDPQ.”

Tillman Infrastructure Chief Financial Officer, Suruchi Ahuja said: “We are excited to have found great partners in CDPQ and AMP Capital to fuel the next stage of our aggressive growth plans. We are committed to continue to be the carrier friendly and carrier preferred infrastructure provider, and a true partner to our customers as they focus on expanding their coverage and capacity across the nation.”

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Tillman.

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