PGGM has bought a minority interest in a French toll road operator from Macquarie鈥檚 European infrastructure fund.
The stake, in Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rh么ne (APRR), gives the Dutch asset manager exposure to France ahead of an economic recovery.
鈥淲e expect APRR to benefit from France鈥檚 economic recovery in coming years,鈥� Henk Huizing, head of infrastructure at PGGM said. 鈥淭his asset provides robust inflation-linked yield profile, which is an excellent match with our clients鈥� pension liabilities.鈥�
APPR鈥檚 network, added Huizing, gives it 鈥渁 pivotal role鈥� in traffic flows in western Europe and France for trade and tourism.
Macquarie, in a joint venture with French developer Eiffage, bought a 13.7% stake in mid-2010 in a 鈧�854m deal. Macquarie鈥檚 Atlas Roads, European Infrastructure and European Infrastructure Fund II became shareholders in APPR.
According to APPR鈥檚 annual report for 2013, the firm鈥檚 revenues rose to 鈧�2.4bn, resulting in profits of 鈧�442m.With a network of 2,264 km of operating motorway, APPR is Europe鈥檚 fourth largest toll road operator.
The network includes the Paris-Lyon route (A5, A6 and A39), the Burgundy-Northern Europe route (A31, A36), Alpine motorways in the Rh么ne-Alpes region (A40, A41, A42, A43, A48, A49 and A51 Nord), as well as motorways in central France (A77 and A71).
PGGM said it had invested significant amounts in other European road assets in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Ireland through partnerships with Royal BAM and Globalvia.
In June last year, PGGM and BAM PPP jointly acquired 50% of concessional rights for the management and maintenance of a 52km stretch of motorway in Germany.
