Kochanski Zieba & Partners (KZP), working alongside Pinsent Masons, has advised Aberdeen Asset Management’s Infrastructure Funds (AIF) on its acquisition of a 49.99% stake in Intertoll Europe’s PPP portfolio for ZAR 633.2 million (EUR 43 million).
The portfolio comprises of shares in the A1 PPP in Poland (15%) and the Mecsek (10%) and Duna (12.67%) sections of the M6 in Hungary. The investment in Poland revolves around Intertoll’s 15% stake in the Gdansk Transport Company (AmberOne) which was established in 1996 to construct, maintain, and manage a 152km stretch of the A1 motorway between the cities of Gdansk and Torun.
The assets will be held in a joint venture vehicle, which will be named Intertoll Capital Partners. JSE-listed Group Five, Intertoll Europe’s parent company, will continue to hold 50.01% of the portfolio. The arrangement will allow both parties to invest in road projects.
Intertoll Europe is owned by Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Group Five.
Aberdeen Asset Management was formed in 1983, and operates in 25 countries, managing £312.1 billion of assets, and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1991.
The KZP team was led by Partner Pawel Cholewinski, Pawel Gunia, and Adam Piwakowski, and included Senior Associate Sylwia Uzieblo-Kowalska and Associate Kacper Czubacki.
The Pinsent Masons team was led by Partner and Head of Projects in the firm's Paris office, Stephane Gasne, and Senior Associate Sonal Shah. They were supported by Gina Fogarty, Cyrielle Barbier, Alexandra Christensen, Michael Duffy, Kirsty McLean, Graeme Stapleton, and Robert Eriksson. Gasne commented: "We are very pleased to have advised Aberdeen on this portfolio and arrangement that will allow both parties to invest in road projects. This deal is a great example of secondary market partnering as a platform for future infrastructure investments."
The Hogan Lovells team advising Intertoll Europe was led by London Infrastructure and Energy Partner Philip Brown, working with Associate Claire Corbett. Commenting on the transaction, Philip Brown said: "Currently one of the largest private road operators in Southern Africa and Europe, we are delighted to have advised Intertoll in connection with this strategic joint venture which will act as a springboard for Intertoll and Aberdeen to co-invest in future road projects globally, including entry into new markets such as the U.S. It also reaffirms our good relationship with Aberdeen as we acted for them on some aspects of the transaction as well. We were able to draw on Hogan Lovells' capability in a number of jurisdictions across Europe to establish and seed this major development for Intertoll and Aberdeen."
Assisting Hogan Lovells on Polish law aspects was a KKLW team led by Partner Michal Kurzynski and including Associate Jacek Choromanski and Junior Associate Lukasz Sajewski.
Editor's Note: After this article was published Hogan Lovells announced that its Hungarian office worked on the team as well, assisting the JV parties on Hungarian law issues. The Budapest-based team included Partner Sandor Bekesi and Associates Bence Vidomusz and Orsolya Molnar.
