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Macquarie splashes into U.K. water
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australia's Macquarie Bank is to pay Aust. $948 million ($635 million) to buy U.K. water utility South East Water plc from the Bouygues Group. Macquarie announced the deal Thursday morning. It said the purchase is being funded by a combination of debt and equity, with Macquarie putting in A$272 million of equity. The deal continues the push into infrastructure assets by the Australian investment bank. It already has invested in roads, airports, utilities and energy assets in a variety of markets ranging from South Korea to Canada and South Africa. South East Water, which has assets of about $715 million, is the second largest of the 12 water utilities in the U.K. and supplies 400 million liters of water a day to about 1.5 million people. Macquarie Bank Chief Financial Officer Greg Ward said in a statement released to the Australian Stock Exchange Thursday that the bank planned to sell the asset into a new fund, the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund (MEIF), within six to nine months, or to institutional investors. MEIF will be Macquarie's fourth unlisted infrastructure fund established outside Australia, using funds sourced primarily from offshore investors. Shares in Macquarie Bank are up 0.8 percent to A$34.81 in early trade Thursday, after closing Wednesday at A$34.52. The shares are up more than 46 percent so far this year. The broader market, measured by the S&P/ASX200, is up 0.55 percent.
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