Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Toronto, and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, Montreal, teamed up with Banco Santander to launch a firm to manage and invest in renewable energy and water infrastructure assets globally.
The firm, Cubico Sustainable Investments, is owned equally by Santander and the Canadian pension funds. It is led by Santander’s former asset and capital structuring team, which was spun off, and former team leader Marcos Sebares is Cubico’s CEO.
It already has a $2 billion portfolio following the transfer of 19 wind, solar and water infrastructure assets that were previously owned by Santander. These assets are located across seven countries: Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, the U.K. and Uruguay.
In a conference call, Mr. Sebares said there are plans to double the existing capital.
The 30-strong former Santander team will manage the current portfolio, and lead investments in the new global renewable energy and water infrastructure platform. Mr. Sebares added on the call that there are plans in place to hire a further 40 employees globally.
The firm is headquartered in London, with offices in Milan, Sao Paulo and Mexico City.
“Renewable and water infrastructure developments require decisive long-term investment and commitment,” Mr. Sebares said in a statement Thursday. “We have already built a strong pipeline of attractive assets to add to the platform and look forward to working with our partners over the coming years.”
“We look forward to supporting the strong management team and its efforts to build a platform for global growth in the renewable energy and water sector,” said Andrew Claerhout, senior vice president, infrastructure, at the C$154.4 billion ($128.5 billion) Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, in the statement.
“This new joint venture will allow us to continue to grow and develop our portfolio of private energy assets while contributing to environmentally sustainable energy production,” added Bruno Guilmette, senior vice president, infrastructure investments, at the C$99.5 billion PSP Investments, in the same statement.
Spokesmen for both pension funds could not be reached for comment by press time.
