Q4 2021 infrastructure financial advisor rankings

Transport deals put three financial advisors on top by deal volume, with Australia being the common denominator amongst top infrastructure deals for 2021   

Financial advisors in inspiratia's 2021 infrastructure  league tables participated in transactions worth over US$61.9 billion (£46.1bn €55.3bn) in cumulative deal volume. Road transport deals in Australia take up a healthy chunk of last year's volume, followed closely by a mix of secondary and primary European rail projects. 

However, the top financial firm for the last quarter of 2021, after advising on a total disclosed volume of US$20.2 billion (£15.1bn €18.1bn) is Macquarie Capital.

One of the firm's largest deals concerns the acquisition of WestConnex, a Sydney motorway company responsible for a 33 kilometres (km) traffic-light-free motorway (WestConnex project) linking Western Sydney with the CBD, Sydney Airport and Port Botany. Macquarie Capital acted on behalf of Sydney Transport Partners – an Australian-led consortium comprised of Transurban, AustralianSuper, CPPIB and Tawreed. The deal reached a financial close in December 2021.

EY follows in second place by a vast margin. EY advised on a total disclosed volume of US$9.7 billion (£7.2bn €8.7bn).

One of its major deals includes advising on the North east Link PPP road project under the procuring authority, Infrastructure Australia. The project is considered a high-priority project and involves the development of 11km of freeway to reduce travel time by half. This primary financing deal which reached financial close in November [2021] is set to be the largest road project in Victoria, Australia.

DC Advisory manages to be in the top three with a total disclosed volume of US$6.1 billion (£4.5bn €5.4bn).

DC Advisory advised Cross London Trains (XLT) in its December 2021 refinancing. XLT was established to procure and lease the rolling stocks primarily for the Thameslink passenger rail franchise. This includes a fleet of 115 Siemens Class 700 Desiro trains, operating on the North-South London commuter rail corridor.

Deal Count

Analysing the deal count for Q1 to Q4 2021, DC Advisory soared into the top position after advising on 22 closed deals. Another notable deal that helped DC Advisory gain the top spot by deal count is its role in the US$369 million (£262.3m €300m) refinancing of the Koole Terminals, a storage capacity in the Netherlands for liquid bulk products to accommodate a multi-creditor structure.

Macquarie Capital lands second place with 19 deals. One of the deals involves advising Australian telecommunication company, Telstra, on its  Telstra InfraCo Towers sale. The deal reached financial close in September [2021] with a disclosed transaction volume of US$2.1 billion (£1.6bn €1.9bn). Telstra sold 49% of its stake to a group of investors comprising of Future Fund, Sunsuper and the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation. The Telstra InfraCo Towers portfolio comprises approximately 8,200 tower assets including over 5,500 mobile towers.

In third place is IMPROVED Corporate Finance with a total of 10 deals. The most significant deal for IMPROVED Corporate Finance from Q1 to Q4 2021 is advising on the Wallbox SPAC acquisition. Wallbox – a Spanish electric vehicle (EV) charging developer backed by Iberdrola – merged with SPAC vehicle Kensington Capital Acquisition Corporation.

Q4 2021 focus

Analysing the Q4 2021 deals, EY ranks on top for the most disclosed transaction volume of US$8.02 billion (£6bn €7.2bn). EY advised on only one project in this quarter, which was the North East Link road PPP project noted earlier.

DC Advisory ranks second in the most disclosed transaction volumes with a quarterly volume of US$3.1 billion (£2.3bn €2.8bn) and retains its position with the most deal counts totalling eight for Q4 2021. The deals operate in the transport, gas transmission, data centres, health, and broadband sectors, for the most part in Europe and Asia Pacific. For instance, DC Advisory advised a consortium comprising OMERS, Goldman Sachs AM and AXA IM  in the acquisition of Amedes in October [2021].

Amedes specialises in medical diagnostic services with a portfolio of 75+ laboratories in Germany, Belgium, and Austria. The deal closed for US$858 million (£640m €770m), giving the buying consortium 100% ownership.

Macquarie Capital ranks third for the fourth quarter with four deals and a total disclosed volume of US$2.4 billion (£1.8bn €2.2bn). One of the notable deals within Q4 is its investment and advisory on the expansion goals of  Phil-Tower Consortium, an independent Philippine tower company. Phil-Tower is currently rolling out more than 1,000 sites across the Philippines.