RiverRock Buys Vigo Hopsital PPP Stake

RiverRock European Capital Partners’ brownfield infrastructure fund has acquired a 16.67% equity interest in the Vigo Hospital PPP, sources said.

The PPP-focused alternative investment manager and adviser acquired the stake following a limited sale process from Concessia, an investment company backed by Spanish banks including Bankia, BBVA, Sabadell and CaixaBank.

The stake fetched below EUR 20m and the sale, code-named Project Neptune, has concluded, a source said.

The concession, one of the largest public hospitals in Spain, has been operational since 2015 and is backed by availability-based payments rising with inflation until September 2035.

RiverRock joins existing shareholders Acciona, Grupo Puentes and Veolia in the shareholding structure.

Advising RiverRock on were Hogan Lovells, PwC and Arup. Concessia was advised by Rubicon and Pinsent Masons.

RiverRock’s first acquisition (Project Sting) was an 80% stake in three Spanish police station PPPs from ACS subsidiary Iridium.

The fund manager is actively pursuing smaller PPPs, typically with sub-EUR 10m equity tickets, mainly in western Europe. It is currently looking at opportunities in France, Italy and Germany, a source said.

According to documents seen by Inframation, RiverRock has been pro-actively invited to look at specific opportunities on a first look basis.

RiverRock launched the fundraise last year targeting EUR 150m. The fund’s hard cap is EUR 200m.

The piece was published on June 27, 2019.