Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) is taking a stake in EP Infrastructure (EPIF), a portfolio of regulated and contracted infrastructure assets in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The vendor, EPH, will retain the remaining 70% stake in EPIF.
The transaction is expected to complete early next year.
The MIRA-managed consortium is led by Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 and includes global institutional investors.
EPIF’s largest investment is in Eustream, the sole gas transmission network in Slovakia, connecting Ukraine to the Czech Republic in the east and Austria in the west.
EPIF also owns a regulated gas network and a power-distribution network in Slovakia.
In the Czech Republic, EPIF has four regulated district heating networks.
EPIF has controlling stakes in three underground gas-storage facilities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, underpinned by long-term contracts, and representing the largest gas storage capacity around the key Baumgarten gas trading hub in Austria.
Martin Stanley, global head of MIRA, said: “This investment in EPIF provides investors with a well-diversified portfolio of regulated and contracted critical infrastructure assets in two of Europe’s dynamic economies.
“We look forward to working with our key co-shareholders – EPH and the Slovak Republic – to ensure the EPIF portfolio businesses continue to deliver to communities and customers.”
The vendor, EPH, owns EP Power Europe, which includes thermal power generation in Italy, power generation in Slovakia, mining and generation in Germany and power generation in the UK.
