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Energy
Attero owns two energy from waste (‘EfW’) plants, two sorting and pre-treatment facilities, six anaerobic digestion facilities, seven composting facilities and 10 landfills. The company processes waste from a diverse mix of domestic municipalities, commercial and industrial customers, as well as a number of UK and Irish exporters.
Attero has good revenue visibility due to its long-term contracts with customers. It is well positioned within the Dutch market with two of the largest and most efficient EfW plants in the country, strategically positioned with good port, road and rail access for both import and domestic waste supply. In addition, Attero is strongly positioned to benefit from favourable underlying trends in the European waste market, driven by EU directives targeting more recycling.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
BCA is a small regional airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland, located ten minutes by car from Belfast city centre In 2016 it served 2.7m inbound and outbound passengers. Its focus is domestic routes operated by scheduled carriers, serving business as well as leisure customers.
Currently four scheduled carriers (Flybe, British Airways, Aer Lingus and Eastern Airways) serve 17 domestic routes, including London Heathrow and London City. A small part of BCA’s traffic is international: Aer Lingus currently serves four sun routes (although this is due to drop to two) over the summer months; KLM serves Amsterdam; and Icelandair flies to Reykjavik.
Aeronautical revenues (airport charges) are not subject to economic regulation. Commercial revenues are generated principally from car parking, royalties on retail, food and beverage, car hire spend, rental income (lounges and offices) and advertising space.
Over 1,000 people are employed on the site, but only c.70 of those are employed by BCA. Many activities are outsourced (e.g. security, facilities management, air traffic control); and others are provided by third parties on-site (e.g. retail, food and beverage operations and ground handling). Fire services, maintenance, advertising, car parking and administration / management are the main activities that remain in-house.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Communications
DNS:NET is a leading independent telecommunications provider in Germany. Established in 1998, DNS:NET owns the largest independent fibre-to-the-cabinet network in the Berlin area and is rolling out a fibre-to-the home network in Berlin and the surrounding regions.
The company differentiates itself through a superior network, local brand recognition and attractive pricing of high bandwidth products, which drives high customer satisfaction. 3i Infrastructure’s backing will allow DNS:NET to accelerate its build programme to provide gigabit-ready connectivity to its customers.
In June 2021, 3i Infrastructure plc invested c.€182m to acquire a 60% stake in DNS:NET.
Fibre is superior to other broadband access technologies because it provides reliable low latency, high bandwidth and distance-independent connectivity for both download and upload. Demand for FTTH connectivity is forecast to grow rapidly, as consumers normalise data intensive activities such as cloud-based remote working, high definition streaming and online gaming, and increasingly view high speed broadband as an essential service.
Germany lags behind most European countries in its FTTH deployment, with only 14% coverage today compared to the European average of 33%. The market is projected to grow at 30% p.a. to meet the German government’s objective of every one of its 43 million households having access to gigabit speed broadband by 2025.
ESP is an independent gas transporter (“iGT”) and independent electricity network operator (“iDNO”) providing the ‘last mile’ of connection between properties (predominantly residential, but also industrial and commercial) and the gas and electricity distribution networks.
It focuses on being an ‘independent asset owner’. It acquires (bids for) gas and electricity connections from ‘utility infrastructure providers’ (“UIP”), who have themselves designed and installed the connections for property developers. ESP is then responsible for maintaining the connections going forward and receives a regulated revenue stream for each connection from the gas and electricity companies who charge the end customer as part of their overall gas or electricity bill. Price regulation for both gas and electricity connections is based on the regimes of the gas and electricity distribution companies. Regulation is overseen by Ofgem.
Today ESP owns over 500,000 connections and has an order book for 200,000 more, making it the second largest iGT/iDNO in the UK. ESP also has a domestic metering business (representing almost one quarter of its revenues). Charges for meters are unregulated.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Energy
Headquartered in Esbjerg, Denmark, ESVAGT is a leading provider of emergency rescue and response vessels ("ERRV") and related services to the offshore energy industry in and around the North Sea and the Barents Sea. The company is also the market leader in the fast growing segment of service operation vessels ("SOV") for the offshore wind industry.
Its ERRV services mainly involve the rescue and recovery of personnel, but also include the dispersion and recovery of oil spills, crew transfers and towing. ESVAGT is the leading provider of ERRV services in Denmark and Norway, with market shares of approximately 100% and 50% respectively, as well as an established and growing presence in the UK. The majority of ESVAGT's ERRV revenues are associated with North Sea oil and gas production support, with the remainder generated by supporting exploration activity.
ESVAGT is also the pioneer and market leader in the provision of SOVs to offshore wind farms, with seven bespoke vessels in operation and a further two under construction. SOVs are purpose-built, high performance vessels, providing efficient transport of maintenance technicians to wind turbines and other offshore equipment, under long term contracts. The offshore wind market, and hence demand for SOVs, is expected to grow strongly over the coming years, creating significant opportunities for the company.
ESVAGT has been operating since 1981, employs c.1,100 people and owns a fleet of c.40 vessels.
The wind service operation vessels ("SOVs") segment is the primary driver of growth for the business where ESVAGT is the market leader. In the North Sea, ESVAGT has committed to five new contract backed SOVs since our acquisition.
Internationally, ESVAGT is developing its focus on the US wind market, where it is preparing to support the expansion strategy of its European customers. ESVAGT is in discussions with the shipyard contracted to supply new SOVs, which is experiencing financial difficulties. We do not expect this to result in a material impact on ESVAGT's ability to fulfil its contractual obligations.
In the emergency rescue and response ("ERRV") segment, stabilising supply/demand dynamics allowed ESVAGT's management to successfully implement its strategy of improving contract coverage for the fleet. However, we anticipate that the recent drop in oil prices will impact ERRV demand in 2020 and negatively affect ESVAGT's spot business.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Utilities
Herambiente is the Italian leader in the waste treatment and disposal sector. The company owns and operates a portfolio of c.80 waste treatment facilities, mostly located in the Emilia Romagna. The plants include landfills, waste to energy plants, anaerobic digestion and other waste sorting facilities.
Herambiente’s revenues originate primarily from waste treatment and disposal and from sale of the resulting by-products, including electricity from incineration, biogas from landfills and recycled materials. In 2016, Herambiente treated c. 1.7m tons of urban waste, 4.7m tons of special waste and produced 161,455,167kWh of electricity.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Utilities
Infinis is the largest generator of electricity from landfill gas in the UK, with a portfolio of 121 landfill sites and total installed capacity of over 300MW.
The business has performed well operationally and financially since our acquisition in December 2016, although long-term power price forecasts have decreased. As expected in our investment case, Infinis was a strong contributor to the Company’s income in the period, counter-balancing some other growth-orientated businesses in the portfolio.
Good progress has been made identifying opportunities to exploit the business’s spare engine and grid connection capacity. Together with the management team, we are reviewing projects in non-landfill gas generation activities, with 30MW of reserve power generation now under development. The Company has agreed to provide further equity of £12 million to support these projects.
In August 2017, Infinis appointed Tony Cocker as Chairman of the Board and Scott Longhurst as Non-executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee. Tony was previously CEO of E.ON UK. Scott is currently Group Finance Director at AWG and Managing Director of AWG’s non-regulated business.
In March 2018, 3i Infrastructure plc announced a follow-on investment of c. £125 million to fund Infinis’s acquisition of Alkane Energy, an independent power generator from both coal mine methane and Reserve Power operations and the largest generator from CMM in the UK.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Social Infrastructure
Ionisos is a leading owner and operator of cold sterilisation facilities servicing the medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Established in 1993 in Civrieux, France, Ionisos is the third largest cold sterilisation provider globally and operates a network of 11 facilities in Europe with market leading positions in France and Spain. It has over 200 employees and a highly diversified customer base of more than 1,000 customers.
Ionisos delivers a mission-critical, non-discretionary service for the medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries for whom cold sterilisation is an essential component of the manufacturing process. It is typically applied to single use products that would be damaged by the heat and/or humidity of hot sterilisation methods.
3i Infrastructure acquired Ionisos in September 2019, having committed to invest in July 2019.
Energy
Joulz is a leading owner and provider of essential energy infrastructure equipment and services in the Netherlands. It leases essential energy infrastructure equipment and meters to a large and diversified customer base of industrial, commercial and public sector customers. It has two business units: Infrastructure Services and Metering.
The Infrastructure Services business owns and leases medium voltage electricity infrastructure such as transformers, switchgear and cables under long-term contracts. The Metering business owns and leases approximately 50,000 electricity and gas meters for non-household customers under medium term contracts.
3i Infrastructure acquired Joulz in April 2019, having committed to invest in March 2019.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Transport & logistics
Oystercatcher is the holding company through which 3i Infrastructure plc holds 45% interests in five subsidiaries of Oiltanking, located in Belgium, Malta, the Netherlands and Singapore. These businesses provide over five million cubic metres of oil, petroleum and other oil-related storage facilities and associated services to a broad range of clients, including private and state oil companies, refiners, petrochemical companies and traders.
The five terminals all performed well in the period, generating EBITDA in line with or ahead of budgeted levels. Each terminal enjoys a strong position in its market and benefits from Oiltanking’s reputation for excellent service standards. Capacity at each location remains substantially let.
In Singapore, favourable conditions underpin the terminal’s key activity, which is gasoline storage and provision of associated services. During the period, a new marine jetty entered operation. This additional jetty capacity will improve customer turnaround times and further cement the competitive position of the terminal.
Customer demand for capacity generally remains strong, but we have seen some softening of demand for storage of certain product types.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Transport & logistics
Formed in 2007, Regional Rail provides freight transportation, car storage, and transloading services in New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware across three railroads and over 155 miles of track connecting to a diversified Class 1 railroad network.
In 2018, the company moved over 13,000 carloads while serving over 70 customers across a diversified set of end-user markets including heating, fuel blending, agriculture, chemicals, and metals. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Diamondback Signal, is the premier provider of rail-crossing installation and maintenance services to over 100 short-line rail customers across 20 states.
In October 2019, Regional Rail acquired Pinsly Railroad Company’s Florida operations adding 208 miles of track across three short-line railroads.
"We look forward to working with 3i as we continue to focus on servicing our existing customers, growing economic development in our local communities, and expanding into new regions through strategic partnerships and acquisitions." Al Sauer, CEO, Regional Rail
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Corporation, a US wholly owned subsidiary of 3i Group.
Transport & logistics
Headquartered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Smarte Carte is a leading supplier and manager of vended equipment in the travel and leisure industry. The company owns and manages baggage carts as the sole provider in 125 locations (including 49 of the top 50 airports in the U.S.). The company also owns and manages lockers and other consumer-rental equipment in amusement parks, fitness clubs, shopping malls and ski resorts.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Corporation, a US wholly owned subsidiary of 3i Group.
Communications
Tampnet is the leading independent offshore communications network operator in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is headquartered in Norway, with operations in the UK, Scandinavia and the USA.
Tampnet provides high speed, low latency and resilient data connectivity offshore through an established and comprehensive network of fibre optic cables, 4G base stations, and microwave links. It operates across four main business areas: fixed installations, mobile rigs and vessels, roaming for offshore workers and international carriers. The majority of its business involves providing fixed fibre links to oil platforms.
3i Infrastructure acquired 50% of Tampnet in March 2019 alongside Danish pension fund ATP, having committed to invest in July 2018.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Transport & logistics
TCR is Europe’s largest independent asset manager of airport ground support equipment and operates at over 100 airports.
TCR performed well during the period. Contract renewal in its core European markets remains very high, demonstrating the defensive nature of the cashflows and TCR’s strong position in a growing market.
In the last six months, TCR has expanded its footprint (notably in Italy and Germany) and added new asset classes to its offering. It has won contracts with new customers including British Airways and Norwegian Air and has started operating the first equipment pooling system in the UK at Luton Airport.
Outside Europe, TCR continues to expand its foothold in Malaysia through additional contract wins with Malaysian Airlines. In Australia, it acquired Emerge Engineering & Maintenance, the leading local repair and maintenance business with workshops at six major airports. This provides TCR with an entry point to the Australian market.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.
Utilities
Valorem is a leading independent renewable energy development and operating company. It is one of the largest onshore wind developers in France, having developed over 480MW of capacity over the last 10 years.
Since acquisition in September 2016, Valorem has grown its existing onshore wind asset base from 142MW in operation to 191MW as at 30 September 2017. These projects sell their electricity through 15-year fixed-indexed power purchase agreements to EDF.
The pipeline has also developed in line with expectations, with 42MW currently in construction and 630MW in advanced pipeline.
Since our investment, Valorem has closed its first 36MW of photovoltaic projects, and secured a feed-in-tariff for an additional 32MW in the last photovoltaic tariff auction in June 2017.
To support the company’s expansion and strengthen the senior management team, Frédéric Lanoé was appointed COO in May 2017.
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc, advised by 3i France.
