CALGARY, Alberta, July 5, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- In a joint press release today, the U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries of Australia's Macquarie Bank Limited announced that Macquarie North America Ltd. has underwritten 15% of the equity in "AltaLink," the successful bidder for the electricity transmission business of TransAlta Utilities Corporation in the Canadian Province of Alberta. TransAlta's system serves 60% of the Province, including the city of Calgary.
Macquarie North America Ltd. (MNA) and Macquarie Corporate Finance (USA) Inc. (MCF) acted as consortium arranger and financial adviser to the C$850 million bid. SNC-Lavalin, Canada's largest engineering and construction group, will hold 50% of the equity; Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, 25% and Washington D.C. based Trans-Elect, Inc. will hold 10%. Debt financing for the transaction has been underwritten by Ontario Teachers'. The deal is expected to close towards the end of 2001, subject to regulatory approval in Alberta.
"This is a landmark transaction for Macquarie in North America," said Chris Leslie, transaction leader from MCF in New York. "It demonstrates that there are viable and dynamic alternatives to traditional ownership of electricity transmission and other infrastructure assets. It also confirms that international models can be successfully adapted to the North American marketplace. The considerable financial and technical strength of the AltaLink Consortium places it in an ideal position to meet the transmission expansion requirements of the Province and to build its business in the rapidly deconsolidating North American market."
Managing Director of Macquarie North America Ltd., Peter Salisbury, said that Macquarie Bank Limited (the parent company of MNA & MCF) has delivered on its international expansion strategy by focusing on niche markets where it can add value and by teaming with strong local players.
"It's a strategy which has been particularly successful in the North American power and utilities market where, in addition to the AltaLink transaction, we have been involved in numerous power and utilities transactions focusing on the consolidation of electricity distribution transactions in Ontario. Macquarie North America is also advising on the sale of a power station sale in Alberta," he said.
MCF established its New York office in 1995 and MNA established an office in Toronto in 1998. Macquarie Bank Limited has subsidiaries in Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Florida and New York. One of these subsidiaries, Macquarie Equities (USA) Inc., has a branch office in San Francisco. Macquarie Equities (USA) Inc. is a NASD registered broker-dealer.
The Macquarie Bank Group ("Macquarie") is an international operation with 22 offices and subsidiaries in 15 countries and is a world leader in infrastructure financing. Its project and structured finance group was recognized this year by Project Finance International magazine as the No.2 among Global Financial Advisers. Macquarie's non-Australian revenue grew by 68 percent last year.
A Macquarie subsidiary in Australia is manager of one of the world's leading infrastructure owners, with its flagship fund, the Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG), owning toll roads in Germany, the UK, Australia and Portugal. MIG is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. In addition, Macquarie also manages infrastructure equity investments in the United States and South Africa.
Macquarie has expanded its infrastructure and specialized funds business with the establishment of a global ($500 million euro) Airports fund, the Macquarie Airports Group which has as its seed asset a 50 percent stake in Bristol Airport in the UK. Macquarie has also launched the AUD$260 million Global Infrastructure Fund (GIF), a new closed-end fund that invests in infrastructure assets in OECD countries. GIF recently acquired the Detroit/Windsor tunnel -- a toll tunnel linking Michigan with Ontario.
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CONTACT: Macquarie North America Ltd., Toronto
Peter Salisbury
(416) 594 5150
Macquarie Corporate Finance (USA) Inc., New York
Chris Leslie
(212) 548 6585
Macquarie Bank Limited, Public Relations, Sydney
Matthew Russell
+ 612 8232 4102