HICL Infrastructure Company now holds half of an Ireland carriageway project with the acquisition of a further 40% stake.

The infrastructure investment firm, advised by InfraRed Capital Partners, said it has agreed to buy the additional interest in the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam PPP Scheme for €23m.

In May 2014, HICL acquired an initial 10% interest in the project and agreed to buy an additional stake in future.

The project is a 28-year availability road concession to design, finance, construct and maintain a new 57km dual carriageway section of the N17/N18 between Gort and Tuam in County Galway on the west coast of Ireland for Transport Infrastructure Ireland. 

Construction works were completed in December 2017 and the project is operational.

London-listed HICL said with the completion of this incremental investment, which fulfils the commitment made in 2014, it will hold a 50% interest in the project.

Harry Seekings, co-head of Infrastructure at InfraRed, said: “We are delighted to be making a further investment in the N17/N18 project. This acquisition will be accretive to the existing portfolio in terms of total return and yield metrics.

“It exemplifies InfraRed’s ongoing strategy of seeking opportunities to optimise HICL’s investment portfolio.”