QIC leads $1.3b purchase of Australian gas storage facility

The consortium, which includes QIC and existing clients of the firm, bought the facility from its current owner EnergyAustralia, a division of China Light & Power. The transaction is scheduled for completion in the last quarter of 2015. QIC's investment comes from its latest infrastructure fund, which reached a first close of more than A$1 billion in August.

In a regulatory filing, CLP said that QIC was chosen as the buyer for Iona after a bid process initiated in July. The company said it had decided to divest the facility in order "to restore value in our investments in Australia." EnergyAustralia will continue to supply gas to its customers after the purchase, and will enter into a contract with the QIC consortium for storage services.

Iona is the oldest underground natural gas storage facility in Australia. Its customers include gas and electricity providers in the states of Victoria and South Australia, and on Australia's east coast.

"We believe Iona is an attractive core infrastructure asset for our clients with an essential role in the Australian east coast energy supply value chain," said Ross Israel, head of global infrastructure at QIC. "It has long-term contracts with its customers, which underpin stable and predictable cashflows while also presenting a platform for further growth and expansion opportunities."

QIC is a global investment manager controlled by the government of Queensland. In addition to its global infrastructure fund, the GP also announced a A$1 billion Asia-Pacific focused infrastructure partnership with California Public Employees' Retirement System in March.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Infrastructure
• Buyouts
• Infrastructure
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• Australia
• QIC
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• buyout
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