Lendlease has sold its infrastructure investment business, Capella Capital, to Japanese trading company Sojitz Corporation for A$235m (€140m).
Sojitz is acquiring Lendlease’s interests in Capella’s infrastructure platform which consists of asset origination, asset management and principal equity investments in four public-private partnership projects.
Upon completion of the sale, Lendlease and Capella have agreed to continue to cooperate on current and future Capella projects where Lendlease has capability, such as construction or development services.
Capella, a public infrastructure developer, financial adviser and asset manager, was established in 2009 as a partnership between its senior management and Lendlease.
It has secured over A$34bn (€204bn) in projects in the transport, social and energy infrastructure sectors in Australia, and currently manages over A$20bn in assets, including more than A$1bn of third-party equity capital.
Malcolm Macintyre, managing director at Capella Capital, said: “Sojitz has a well-established presence in Australia and a strong appetite and capacity to invest domestically and overseas.
“With Sojitz support, Capella will be able to build on our success to date with Lendlease and target a broader range of infrastructure assets both in Australia and globally.”
Takefumi Nishikawa, COO of Sojitz Corporation’s energy solutions and healthcare division, said: “By acquiring Australia’s leading infrastructure developer, Sojitz seeks to provide integrated services from project development to asset management with the aim of expanding this business model to regions with rapid infrastructure development such as the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe and the US, in addition to Australia.“
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