“Our investors will benefit from increased exposure to a core infrastructure asset that has high barriers to entry…”

MP Capital’s Infrastructure Debt team has reached financial close on an expansion of its mezzanine debt investment with Alterra Power Corp., a global renewable energy company headquartered in British Columbia, Canada.

Alterra manages eight power plants totalling 825 MW of hydro, wind, geothermal and solar generation capacity in Canada, the US and Iceland. Alterra owns a 363 MW share of this capacity, generating more than 1,500 GWh of clean power annually.

Under the agreement, an additional tranche of US$21.1 million was added to the existing facility the company holds with AMP Capital. The proceeds have been used to partially fund Alterra’s equity contribution to the Flat Top Wind project, which is a 200 MW wind project in central Texas.

AMP Capital’s infrastructure debt strategy has now loaned a total amount equivalent to US$93 million to Alterra, secured against Alterra’s interest in a 264 MW portfolio of renewable energy projects, comprising two run-of-river hydro facilities (Toba Montrose, Jimmie Creek) and a wind farm (Dokie 1) in British Columbia, and now Flat Top.

AMP Capital US Infrastructure Debt Director Spencer Ivey said: “We are pleased to have strengthened our relationship with Alterra with this investment. Our investors will benefit from increased exposure to a core infrastructure asset that has high barriers to entry, long-term contracted revenue streams, geographic and technology diversity, and an experienced management team with a proven track record. It is an excellent addition to our already-strong portfolio.

“Renewable energy is a key investment theme for AMP Capital’s infrastructure debt strategy and we are seeing a strong pipeline of opportunities in the US, Australia and Europe. This pipeline is matched by ever-increasing interest in infrastructure debt as an asset class from global investors, particularly pension plans and insurance companies.”

AMP Capital’s Infrastructure Debt team has 13 investment professionals located in London, New York and Sydney. The team has invested more than US$3 billion in 58 infrastructure debt assets since 2001.

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In London, Emma Haight joins the team as Director from NIBC Bank where she was Vice President in the Project Finance division and a lead negotiator on infrastructure transactions. Ms Haight has held similar roles at Nur Energie and Allen & Overy. James Fox is joining the London office at the end of April as Associate Director. He previously worked in the Finance team at British Land and is a fully qualified chartered accountant. Ms Haight and Mr Fox will both report to AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Principal Richard Lane.

In New York, Spencer Ivey is joining as Associate Director. He will relocate to New York in May from AMP Capital’s Sydney office where he was Fund Controller for the infrastructure debt team. Mr Ivey will report to AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Principal Patrick Trears and work alongside Associate Director Andrew Liao. He will be replaced in Sydney by Greg Gill, who was previously Manager of AMP Capital’s Fund Accounting team.

AMP Capital Global Head of Infrastructure Debt Andrew Jones said: “These appointments reflect gathering momentum behind our fundraising efforts. Adding senior talent to the team will ensure our asset sourcing and management capabilities keep pace with our fundraising success and they will all be integral in sourcing and securing new deals.

“They also demonstrate the scope of AMP Capital’s global infrastructure debt team, which has a presence in London, New York and Sydney.”

AMP Capital has been investing in infrastructure debt since 1998 and focuses on defensive, non-cyclical, cash-flow producing assets. Its first fund, IDF I, was closed to new investment in 2012 after raising US$503 million from 30 global institutional investors.

In January, AMP Capital announced that it had successfully closed a US$100 million subordinated debt financing for New York City-based Astoria Project Partners, a fully operational, combined cycle power generation facility, with a total generating capacity of 550MW.

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