Infrastructure investor John Laing has acquired Convention Centre Dublin and a number of other assets from AMP Capital, the infrastructure manager of the Irish Infrastructure Fund.
IIF was established by Irish Life Investment Managers in 2011, with funding from the Irish state and other Irish institutional investors to invest in Irish infrastructure assets.
Convention Centre Dublin (pictured) is Ireland’s only purpose-built convention centre with an 8,000-person capacity. The CCD has hosted over 2,000 events an won a total of 60 industry awards since opening in 2010. It is a 25-year availability-based public private partnership with the Office of Public Works.
As well as CCD, John Laing is acquiring Towercom, Ireland’s largest telecom tower company, with a nationwide portfolio of 409 towers; and Valley Healthcare, Ireland’s largest primary care centre operator, with 20 PCCs under operation that are leased to the HSE.
John Laing was publicly quoted in the UK until it was acquired by US private equity giant KKR in May 2021 in a deal valued at c.£2bn.
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Jamie Christmas, acting CEO of John Laing, said: “This acquisition, the largest single investment in John Laing’s history, enables us to scale and diversify our portfolio with three assets that enjoy strong market positions and limited correlation to economic cycles, all underpinned by long-term contracts.
“We are also excited by the chance to invest in Ireland, the fastest-growing economy in the eurozone and a country where we expect to see a pipeline of further investment opportunities.”
Philip Doyle, principal and fund manager at AMP Capital, said IIF was established to support the Irish economy through investment into essential community and national infrastructure and services.
“We are pleased that through our active management of these businesses they have grown and prospered during our tenure and positively contributed to the development of Ireland’s tourism, healthcare and communications sectors,” he added.
Deal consideration was not announced. John Laing was advised on the transaction by Evercore, Rothschild, Arthur Cox and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
AMP Capital and IIF were advised by Dentons, IBI Corporate Finance, Jefferies International, and law firms Matheson and McCann Fitzgerald.
