Additional Investment in BeNE

RNS Number : 3043Y

International Public Partnership Ld

21 December 2010

 



21 December 2010

International Public Partnerships Limited 

Additional Investment in BeNEX

International Public Partnerships Limited ("INPP" or "the Company") is pleased to advise it has made an additional investment in its German rail operating business, BeNEX. BeNEX was established in 2007 as a joint venture between Hamburger Hochbahn AG (51%), a subsidiary of the German Federal State City of Hamburg, and INPP (49%) to operate rail and bus concessions throughout Germany.

BeNEX has developed ahead of the Company's original projections and seen substantial growth in its rail business. As a consequence of that success and the number of new opportunities arising in the German market, particularly following the liberalisation of Deutsche Bahn, BeNEX is seeking €15.3m of additional capital from its shareholders, of which INPP is investing €7.5m (£6.4m). The project will continue to be overseen by Amber's German asset management executives, Dr. Juergen Bufka and Tim Schlicht.

Rail Market in Germany

The total German Local Public Rail Transport (LPRT) market comprises approximately 630m rail kilometres. Due to the increasing liberalisation process, approximately 35% of the market has now been tendered and the market share of non-Deutsche Bahn companies has grown steadily over the past ten years from 8.2% to 20.5% in 2010.

At the time of INPP's initial investment in 2007, BeNEX had shares in four rail companies with 18.3m rail kilometres. BeNEX has experienced successful growth and now has 22.3m rail kilometres in operation or under preparation, well ahead of original forecasts. BeNEX's rail operations now rank third amongst the non-Deutsche Bahn operators in Germany (behind Veolia and Arriva Germany) with 17% of the total non-Deutsche Bahn market of approximately 130m rail kilometres. This represents a market share of 3.5% in relation to the total German LPRT market of 630m rail kilometres.

Future Opportunities

Based on published tender information, a minimum total volume of approximately 230m rail kilometres will be tendered in the period from 2011 to 2013. The upcoming opportunities include several large concessions such as S-Bahn Frankfurt and S-Bahn Berlin, both with more than 10m rail kilometres. In addition to the tender opportunities, BeNEX potentially sees a number of acquisition opportunities from existing rail operators.

Keith Dorrian, Chairman of the Company said: "BeNEX has been a successful investment for INPP. It has developed ahead of original projections and seen substantial growth in its rail business. This faster than anticipated growth has led to the request for additional capital to help meet the pipeline of opportunities BeNEX anticipates and we are delighted to participate in the further growth of this exciting business."

For further information:

Bianca Francis                                                 [phone]

Amber Fund Management Limited                                

Nick Westlake/Hugh Jonathan                            [phone]/1263

Numis Securities       

Ed Gascoigne-Pees/Ed Berry                               [phone]/7297
Financial Dynamics

Notes to Editors:

About International Public Partnerships (INPP):

International Public Partnerships Limited (INPP) is a listed infrastructure investment company which invests in global public infrastructure projects developed under the public private partnerships (PPP) and private finance initiative (PFI) procurement methods.

Listed in 2006, INPP is a long-term investor in 55 social and transport infrastructure projects, including schools, hospitals, courts, police headquarters and transport projects in the U.K., Europe, Australia and Canada. INPP seeks to provide its shareholders with both a long-term government-backed yield and capital growth through investment across both construction and operational phases of 25-40 year concessions.

Amber Infrastructure Group (Amber) is the Investment Advisor to INPP and consists of more than 50 dedicated infrastructure specialists which originate and source a strong pipeline of projects for INPP.

 

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