Teachers’ and Hastings enter agreement for 50-year lease of Australian desalination plant
TORONTO – Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') and Hastings Funds Management (Hastings) have jointly entered into a binding contract with the government of New South Wales for a 50-year lease of the Sydney Desalination Plant (SDP).
State-owned Sydney Water Corp. commenced a competitive process in November 2011 to refinance SDP through a long-term lease. SDP is capable of producing over 15% of Sydney's total demand for potable water. As part of the transaction, Sydney Water Corp. has entered into a 50-year water supply agreement with SDP.
The successful bid by the Teachers' and Hastings consortium values SDP at A$2.3 billion (C$2.3 billion). Teachers' Infrastructure Group currently manages an international portfolio of approximately C$11 billion, including water and wastewater, electricity distribution, airports, power generation, high-speed rail, port facilities and timberland. Hastings' investment in the transaction was supported by its unlisted infrastructure investment funds, Utilities Trust of Australia and The Infrastructure Fund.
"SDP is a high-quality infrastructure asset ideally suited to our investment criteria and will help to pay benefits to our members for decades," said Stephen Dowd, Teachers' Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure and Timberland. SDP will provide stable inflation-protected returns through its fair and transparent regulatory regime and contractual framework, he said. "We are dedicated to providing Sydney residents with access to safe, reliable high-quality drinking water and understand the responsibility placed on us to oversee this critical piece of infrastructure," Mr. Dowd said.
Richard Hoskins of Hastings said both Teachers' and Hastings bring to this project unrivalled experience in managing critical infrastructure assets in Australia and three other continents. In water specifically, Hastings and Teachers' own or manage water assets both in Australia and globally that currently service approximately 3.85 million water customers.
About Teachers'
With $117.1 billion in assets as of December 31, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada. An independent organization, it invests the pension fund's assets and administers the pensions of 300,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario. For more information visit www.otpp.com.
About Hastings
Established in 1994, Hastings was one of Australia's first infrastructure fund managers and has a proven investment and asset management track record through its strong fiduciary culture and focus on core infrastructure equity and debt. As at 31 December 2011, Hastings had A$6.7 billion in funds under management, with an asset portfolio predominantly comprising utilities, airports, toll roads and seaports in Australia, UK, Europe and USA. For more information visit www.hastingsinfra.com.
Contact:
Deborah Allan
Director, Communications and Media Relations
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
(416) 730-5347
deborah_allan@otpp.com