Listed infrastructure funds are launched by a stock exchange listing and the sale of shares, mainly to institutional and wealthy investors, with the host company usually acquiring a 20% shareholding in the fund. The offshore location is designed to provide tax benefits for investors. It also increases the internationalisation of these funds and the ownership of PPP assets.
HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd (2006): First infrastructure fund to list on the London Stock Exchange in March 2006 with a £250m share issue. Further share offers in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 raised a further £585m to acquire PPP assets.
International Public Partnerships (2006) originally listed in November 2006 as Babcock Brown International Partnerships with an initial portfolio of 23 PPP projects, followed by a further share listing raising £137m in April 2008, and a further share issue as INPP in January 2010 raising £98m.
John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) (2010) launched in November 2010 with a £290m share listing followed by a £27.4m new share placement in April 2011 and a £130.7m issue of new shares in October 2011. John Laing Group (Henderson Global Investors) had a 18.2% stake in JLIF (2012).
Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure Fund (BBGIF): raised £240m in December 2011 (Luxembourg). Bilfinger Berger has 19.9% share stake with the remainder being institutional investors.
These funds target a 7%-8% internal rate of return (JLIF, 2011, HICL, 2012, BBGIF, 2011).