Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets invests in a portfolio of infrastructure assets in Slovakia and the Czech Republic

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) has reached an agreement to acquire a 30 per cent stake in EP Infrastructure (EPIF), a portfolio of regulated and contracted infrastructure assets in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The vendor, EPH, will retain the remaining 70 per cent stake in EPIF.

The MIRA-managed consortium is led by Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 and includes global institutional investors.

EPIF’s largest investment is in Eustream, the sole gas transmission network in Slovakia and a strategic part of the European gas transmission network, connecting Ukraine in the east to Czech Republic and Austria in the west as well as providing interconnection with neighbouring countries.

EPIF also owns a regulated gas network and a power distribution network in Slovakia. In the Czech Republic, EPIF has four regulated district heating networks, including in the city of Prague. EPIF has controlling stakes in three underground gas storage facilities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, underpinned by long-term contracts, and representing the largest gas storage capacity around the key Baumgarten gas trading hub in Austria.

“This investment in EPIF provides investors with a well-diversified portfolio of regulated and contracted critical infrastructure assets in two of Europe’s dynamic economies. We look forward to working with our key co-shareholders - EPH and the Slovak Republic - to ensure the EPIF portfolio businesses continue to deliver to communities and customers,” commented Martin Stanley, Global Head of MIRA.

The vendor, EPH, is a vertically integrated energy utility that also owns EP Power Europe, which includes thermal power generation in Italy, power generation in Slovakia, mining and generation in Germany, and power generation in the UK.

The transaction is expected to complete in early Q1 2017, following customary regulatory approvals.