AMP Capital has acquired an additional 9.95% stake in the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) on behalf of its Community Infrastructure Fund (CommIF), lifting its total investment in the teaching hospital to more than A$200m (€125m)
The vendor was global infrastructure manager Morrison & Co.
In March this year, CommIF bought a 17.26% interest in the 800-bed hospital from John Liang. The fund now holds 27.21%, and is the second largest shareholder in Celsus, the consortium which owns the hospital, built by a private-public partnership (PPP) with the South Australian government.
Acquisition of the additional stake was the first transaction that CommIF has done since its board rejected three takeover bids, including one from Morrison & Co, for its A$1.4bn social infrastructure fund this month.
Charles Savage, CommIF portfolio manager, told IPE Real Assets the asset was a “great fit” for the CommIF portfolio, and that the fund saw itself as “the natural owner of a hospital such as Royal Adelaide.”
CommIF investments, he said, had helped develop and support critical health infrastructure across Australia. including Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, “while delivering robust returns for investors”.
AMP Capital managing director – origination, Scott Markwick, said: “The acquisition continues CommIF’s successful strategy of acquiring interests in high-quality assets, and follows the Royal Adelaide Hospital PPP’s successful $2.2bn refinancing last week.”
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