Infrastructure and private equity firm Foresight Group agreed to acquire the Pensions Infrastructure Platform, a manager led by pension funds.
The transaction, which is set to complete in four weeks, will boost Foresight's assets to £6.5 billion ($8 billion) and will enhance the firm's infrastructure capabilities. PIP has £1.8 billion in assets, bolstering Foresight's infrastructure business to £5.3 billon.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, a spokesman confirmed.
The PIP was founded in 2012 to help U.K. pension funds to invest in infrastructure assets.
The £32 billion Pension Protection Fund, London; RPMI Railpen, London, which manages £30 billion of assets for the railways pension schemes; London-based British Airways' pension funds, which have £25.5 billion in combined assets; the £20.8 billion Strathclyde Pension Fund, Glasgow; and the £15.7 billion West Midlands Pension Fund, Wolverhampton, England — which have backed PIP since its launch — will continue to be invested as limited partners.
"West Midlands has built a strong partnership with PIP which has enabled effective growth in a range of long-term U.K. infrastructure investments, targeting inflation-linked returns and cash flow required to help pay pensions — we look forward to continuing to build on that foundation with Foresight as both the fund's investment strategy and market opportunities continue to evolve," Rachel Brothwood, director of pensions at the West Midlands Pension Fund, said Friday in a news release.
Nigel Aitchison, partner and head of infrastructure at Foresight, said in the release: "The skills of the PIP team will further strengthen the depth and breadth of our specialist infrastructure presence and Foresight's position as a leading infrastructure manager."
Paula Burgess, CEO of PIP, will become a partner at Foresight following completion of the deal.
PIP's investment team, including CIO Ed Wilson and Andy Clapp, head of asset management, will also join Foresight's infrastructure team, the release said.
