Over 35,000 votes were cast from practitioners based in over 40 countries cast their votes for InfrastructureInvestor’s inaugural Awards 2009, with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Meridiam Infrastructure the firms that won the most awards.
GIP triumphed in four categories including the coveted Global Infrastructure Fund of the year trophy, which it snatched from Australian investor Macquarie. French fund Meridiam Infrastructure matched that total, including the nomination for best Global PPP Transaction of the Year, while Spanish toll road operator Cintra was voted Global Infrastructure Developer of 2009 in its last year as a listed company.
These were just a few of the hotly contested races in the InfrastructureInvestor Annual Awards 2009. This is the first year that InfrastructureInvestor has held its poll, which is voted on directly by thousands of the industry’s participants around the globe, not a panel of judges.
These awards represent the firms, funds and deals that best survived 2009’s turbulent financial and economic conditions. They also showcase those who thrived because of them. There are some exciting new names among the results, alongside some of the industry's longest established players.
With liquidity tight throughout the year, the deal environment in 2009 was challenging, to say the least. It was also a year that tested the boundaries of public-private partnerships, as both the public and private sectors were forced to work overtime in order for deals to close successfully. Significantly, 2009 saw infrastructure become a buyer’s market, even though it wasn’t the year of the distressed seller that many thought it would become at its onset.
The deal taking top honours across the globe, the acquisition of Gatwick airport by GIP, illustrated the changed market conditions well, with GIP buying the London airport from Spanish firm Ferrovial for £1.51 billion – a discount on its £1.8 billion regulated asset base and a far cry from the £3 billion analysts estimated Ferrovial could have gotten if air travel hadn’t taken a turn for the worse.
Meridiam’s Port of Miami Tunnel – which was voted both Global and North American Transaction of the Year – was a testament to the resilience of PPPs, as it survived months of delays that saw the main equity holder withdraw from the project and the procuring authority threaten to shelve the deal.
But 2009 was also the year infrastructure emerged as its own asset class, with LPs rejecting the private equity fee model and increasingly considering direct investments. Cintra, voted best Global and North American Developer of the Year, captured the changing mood well, as it became the first developer to convince a pension fund to invest directly in a US PPP deal – the $2 billion North Tarrant Expressway, in Texas.
The InfrastructureInvestor Awards 2009 feature more than 40 categories across regions including North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The full list of award winners can be found in the March issue of InfrastructureInvestor.
The roll of honour
|
| Winner | Runner-up |
| Global infrastructure deal of the year | Global Infrastructure Partners (Gatwick airport) | Meridiam Infrastructure (Port of Miami tunnel) |
| European infrastructure deal of the year | Global Infrastructure Partners (Gatwick airport) | VINCI Concessions/Meridiam Infrastructure (R1 Expressway PPP, Slovakia) |
| North American infrastructure deal of the year | Meridiam Infrastructure (Port of Miami tunnel) | Global Infrastructure Partners (Ruby natural gas pipeline) |
| Asian infrastructure deal of the year | IDFC Private Equity (Delhi airport share swap) | 3i (Adani Power IPO) |
| Latin America infrastructure deal of the year | Bank of Japan for International Cooperation/European Investment Bank & others (Panama Canal widening) | Conduit Capital (Kuntur Transportadora de Gas/Camisea gas pipeline) |
| Middle East infrastructure deal of the year | MENA Infrastructure Fund (United Power Company) | ADCB Macquarie Infrastructure Fund (ZonesCorp) |
| African infrastructure deal of the year | Citadel Capital (Nile Logistics) | Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund (Essar Telecom) |
| Global PPP transaction of the year | Meridiam Infrastructure (Port of Miami tunnel) | AquaSure consortium led by GFS Suez, Thiess, Macquarie Capital (Victorian desalination project) |
| European PPP transaction of the year | Connect Plus led by Balfour Beatty, Skanska (M25 widening) | Meridiam Infrastructure/Kulcyzk Holding & others (A2 highway, Poland) |
| North American PPP transaction of the year | Meridiam Infrastructure (Port of Miami tunnel) | The Carlyle Group (Connecticut roadside services stops) |
| Global infrastructure fund manager of the year | Global Infrastructure Partners | Macquarie |
| Global institutional investor in infrastructure of the year | Canada Pension Plan Investment Board | Government of Singapore Investment Corporation |
| Global infrastructure fundraising of the year | Alinda Capital Partners | Brookfield |
| European infrastructure fund manager of the year | Meridiam Infrastructure | 3i |
| North American infrastructure fund manager of the year | Global Infrastructure Partners | SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners |
| Asian infrastructure fund manager of the year | IDFC Private Equity | Macquarie |
| Middle East infrastructure fund manager of the year | MENA Infrastructure Fund | Abraaj Capital |
| African infrastructure fund manager of the year | Actis | Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund |
| Global infrastructure developer of the year | Cintra | ACS Infrastructure Development |
| European infrastructure developer of the year | Hochtief | VINCI Concessions |
| North American infrastructure developer of the year | Cintra USA | ACS Infrastructure Development |
| Asian infrastructure developer of the year | GMR Group | JGC Corporation |
| Latin American infrastructure developer of the year | Odebrecht | ICA |
| Middle East infrastructure developer of the year | Mubadala Development Company | GDF Suez |
| African infrastructure developer of the year | Eiffage | Industrial Development Corporation |
| Global infrastructure bank of the year | Calyon (now Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank) | RBS |
| Infrastructure bank of the year in Europe | Banco Santander | European Investment Bank |
| Infrastructure bank of the year in North America | Barclays | Societe Generale |
| Infrastructure bank of the year in Asia | HSBC | Standard Chartered |
| Infrastructure bank of the year in Latin America | International Finance Corporation | Inter-American Development Bank |
| Infrastructure bank of the year in the Middle East | Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank | Islamic Development Bank |
| Infrastructure bank of the year in Africa | African Development Bank | International Finance Corporation |
| Global infrastructure law firm of the year | Allen & Overy | Clifford Chance |
| Infrastructure law firm of the year in Europe | Allen & Overy | SJ Berwin |
| Infrastructure law firm of the year in North America | Mayer Brown | Allen & Overy |
| Infrastructure law firm of the year in Asia | Shearman & Sterling | SJ Berwin |
| Infrastructure law firm of the year in Latin America | Shearman & Sterling | Fulbright & Jaworski |
| Infrastructure law firm of the year in the Middle East | DLA Piper | Simmons & Simmons |
| Global infrastructure fund administrator of the year | JPMorgan Chase & Co | Northern Trust |
| Global infrastructure insurance house of the year | Marsh | JLT Group |
| Global corporate trust services provider of the year | BNY Mellon | Deutsche Bank |
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