Amber Infrastructure has entered the New Zealand market for the first time, acquiring five assets from Morrison & Co on behalf of International Public Partnerships (INPP).
INPP will take full ownership of a portfolio of schools and a student accommodation property for approximately NZ$200m (鈧�121m).
Amber鈥檚 head of Asia-Pacific, Vaughan Wallace, said: 鈥淲e have capitalised on our ability to move quickly when opportunities arise to secure a rare investment with a proven track record.
鈥淭his portfolio acquisition expands our footprint into the New Zealand market, providing a material presence in the education sector with 11 schools and a purpose-built student accommodation facility at Auckland University of Technology.鈥�
Wallace described the assets as 鈥渉igh-quality infrastructure investments鈥� which were already operational and delivering long-term stable cash flows linked to inflation.
鈥淥ur acquisition affords us the opportunity to employ the existing, well-respected New Zealand PPP project delivery team, who have been actively managing these assets,鈥� he said.
The five infrastructure assets join Amber鈥檚 growing Australian investment portfolio, which now is worth more than A$9bn (鈧�5.76bn) across the public, healthcare, transport, energy and digital sectors.
Morrison & Co executive director Steven Proctor said the sale had generated 鈥渁n excellent return鈥� for investors over more than a decade.
鈥淲e actively managed each of these assets to become fully operational, delivering a range of improvements for their stakeholders and the local communities they serve,鈥� he said.
The firm said it would return capital to investors and deliver a smooth ownership transition to stakeholders and new lower-cost capital providers.
鈥淒uring our investment, we have enabled the businesses to unlock their potential by supporting major construction work activities,鈥� Proctor said.
