22 December 2006   

STAR Capital Partners and co-Investors announce the sale of their investment in secondary market infrastructure fund

STAR Capital Partners (“STAR“), the independent investment fund manager and its co-investors, Halifax Bank of Scotland (“HBOS”) and AMP Capital Investors (“AMP”) (“the Institutions”) have today announced that they have signed agreements to sell their investment in Secondary Market Infrastructure Fund (“SMIF” or ”the Company“) to Land Securities Trillium (“LST”). The enterprise value at completion is estimated at £927 million. SMIF is one of Europe’s largest infrastructure investment and management groups with total gross assets under management of circa £4 billion.

SMIF was set up in 2001 and acquired by STAR in December 2003. The objective was to grow the portfolio by acquiring further PFI investments, establish a liquid secondary market in the asset class, become the largest and most efficient manager in the sector and acquire other infrastructure assets with similar characteristics. The SMIF team have exceeded the business objectives and today SMIF’s portfolio comprises 79 projects spread across six main sectors: health, education, accommodation, prisons/secure accommodation, transport and utilities and include, inter alia, the British Embassy in Berlin and the M40 Motorway. In addition, SMIF has established an asset management division, which monitors and manages the portfolio for the long term. SMIF now has 89 personnel employed in these core activities and is well positioned for further growth.

In order to fund the acquisition growth, HBOS and AMP joined STAR as co-investment partners during 2005.

Tony Mallin, Chief Executive of STAR said::

“The business plan for SMIF was ambitious but built upon a stable asset base with good macro growth dynamics in line with STAR’s investment strategy. It is a credit to Bill Doughty and his team that the plan was executed with such skill and precision. We are delighted to have been part of the SMIF success and we wish Bill and his team well under the new owner”.

Bill Doughty, Chief Executive of SMIF added:

“STAR, HBOS and AMP have been committed investors during SMIF’s development and growth over the last three years. Their support and advice has added significant value to the business and contributed greatly to the positioning of SMIF at the frontier of the PPP market. Along with the rest of the SMIF management team, I am delighted at the prospect of working with LST in the future and making a significant contribution to its exciting and broader PPP strategy."