(Australia/UK) Macquarie Bank has acquired UK water utility South East Water (SEW) from French company Bouygues for A$948 million.SEW is the second biggest water only utility in the UK and has a regulatory asset base of A$1,067 million.
The deal will be funded by a combination of debt and equity with Macquarie Bank contributing A$272 million of equity.
The bank said it intends to sell the asset into a new fund, called the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund (MEIF), within six to nine months, or to institutional investors.
The MEIF is the bank’s fourth unlisted infrastructure fund established outside Australia using funds raised predominantly from offshore investors. The bank has also set up infrastructure funds in Canada, South Korea and South Africa.