The purchase is the investment trust’s largest since its IPO in November 2010. It has grown from around £270m to over £550m over the past two and a half years.
The transaction was conducted via the secondary market, the selling party being Investors in the Community LP.
Fund co-manager David Marshall said: “This is the third secondary market transaction we have made this year, although this one was by far the largest. The secondaries market is proving to be particularly buoyant at present, and we are seeing a range of interesting opportunities across the social infrastructure spectrum.”
The transaction is subject to the customary consent process, and once completed will bring the total number of projects in the portfolio to 49, and its aggregate value to £697.8m.
The acquired portfolio projects include:
Leeds Combined Secondary Schools (100% ownership)
Bexley Schools (100% ownership)
Bristol BSF (37.5% ownership)
Peterborough Schools (81% ownership)
Miles Platting Housing (33% ownership)
Realise Health LIFT (Colchester) (60% ownership)
Northampton Mental Health (100% ownership)
Barnet Lighting (85% ownership)
Enfield Lighting (85% ownership)
Lambeth Lighting (85% ownership)
Redcar and Cleveland Lighting (85% ownership)
The trust invests across the social infrastructure sector, and the largest proportion of assets is currently accounted for by investments in healthcare (39%). In terms of region, it is most heavily concentrated in the UK (78%) but does have some exposure to the US.
The trust’s performance over the past year is shown in the graph below.
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George Osborne annonced an increase in infrastructure spending towards the end of last month, find out more here.
