Foresight Group has taken over John Laing Group’s remaining fund management activities by acquiring its mandate and management.
The infrastructure and private equity investment manager is buying John Laing Capital Management’s (JLCM) investment advisory business relating to John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN).
The JLEN fund has a gross asset value of £764m (€862m) and the acquisition will lift Foresight’s managed assets to £4bn.
The fund has a portfolio of 28 operational assets across a range of renewable generation, wastewater and waste management activities located in the UK and Europe.
As part of the transaction, the JLCM team which has provided investment advisory services to JLEN since JLEN’s initial public offering in 2014, will be transferred to Foresight.
The co-heads of JLEN, Chris Holmes and Chris Tanner, will become partners of Foresight.
Last year, the John Laing Infrastructure Fund was sold for £1.4bn to a consortium made up of Dalmore Capital and Equitix Investment Management (JLIF).
In the announcement today, John Laing Group said following the acquisition of JLIF in October 2018, it has now agreed the sale of its remaining fund management activities.
This transaction will ensure JLEN receives the focus and investment it requires to support its future growth, it said, adding that the sale will allow the company to ”concentrate its focus on the core business of investment in and active management of greenfield infrastructure projects”.
Bernard Fairman, Foresight chairman said: “This brings our total assets under management to £4bn and strengthens our commitment to the clean energy and environmental infrastructure sector, where we are keen to consider other similar acquisitions globally.”
