Infrastructure M&A

Infrastructure is a firmly established asset class across EMEA and European activity levels remain very strong with a growing number of funds in the mid-market space.

There is a clear trend of funds that are moving towards the Core+ and sometimes Core++ end of the risk/reward spectrum.

Whilst opportunities in these areas may be asset lite, there is a clear need for investment opportunities to be able to demonstrate the key characteristics such as barriers to entry, repeat clients with low churn, a base level of revenue with stable cash flow generation, capex requirements, etc.

Through the Pandemic there has been a focus on two broad investment themes throughout EMEA being Digital Infrastructure (such as data centres, broadband roll out and fibre networks) and Energy Transition assets (EV charging, battery storage, etc).

Deal flow across Europe is high driven from i)the secondary market as Infrastructure and PE funds look to exit assets and ii)as large corporates continue to divest what they see as non-core assets which present an opportunity for monetisation.

Deloitte's infrastructure investors team

We have been supporting infrastructure funds and direct investors in the asset class across all European jurisdictions since 2006; advising on the delivery of complex, cross-border transactions. We therefore have a deep understanding of the sector, financing mechanisms, regulatory regimes and key players. The team has extensive experience in advising on deals in the following sub sectors:

• PFI / PPP Portfolio’s
• Sea Transport
• Power generation and waste businesses
• Renewables
• Distribution networks and regulated assets
• Airports and associated aviation services
• Road assets, MSA, Car parks
• Ports
• Towers, Data Centre, Fibre
• Metering businesses
  

Our cross service line dedicated team offers market knowledge and insight, drawing on the numerous years that Deloitte has been specifically focused on advising this asset class coupled with asset and industry specialist knowledge that we can draw on from the wider firm. We offer a comprehensive range of services, providing end-to-end support across:

• The Fund lifecycle – supporting clients on Fund structuring, Fund Reporting, Investor Reporting, Personal Tax for Fund Manager Execs and structuring Rewards/MEPs
• The Transaction lifecycle – supporting clients on Deal Origination, Lead Advisory, Due diligence (such as financial, pensions, Ops, IT, tax, HR, ESG), Tax structuring, SPA Support, Exit Readiness, Vendor Assist / VDD products and Debt Advisory – acquisition debt
• The Portfolio company lifecycle – supporting client on Value optimisation projects (such as working capital optimisation, cost out, short term cash flow management), Debt advisory – re-financings, Cyber, ESG transformation projects, 100 day planning accounting advice, Controls and Governance support, Reputation and Crisis resilience and Valuations

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