If investors had cooled on Latin America’s energy and infrastructure sectors over the past year, nobody told Actis. The UK-based sustainable infrastructure investor, which wins the award for Project Sponsor of the Year, has had a busy year buying assets and using capital markets to finance projects in countries including Mexico, Brazil and Peru.
Actis’ most conspicuous act in the region over this period was its acquisition of a portfolio of clean power generation assets from Enel Américas in Peru, in a deal valued at $1.39 billion.
But that wasn’t all. In México, Valia, a clean energy platform owned by the firm, issued a $530 million bond to refinance its gas-fired power generation plants in the country. It was the first project bond out of Mexico since 2020.And in Brazil, HRZ, a holding company that owns assets in the crucial transmission line segment in the country, tapped local capital markets to the tune of $76 million to pay back existing debts.
The variety of activities and markets the firm is involved in illustrates Actis’ commitment to the region. The firm has stakes in three energy investment platforms in the region: Serena (previously Omega Energia) in Brazil, Valia in Mexico and the more recent Orygen in Peru. Other assets include HRZ and Eólicas Babilônia, both in Brazil, Aela Energía, a wind power generation company in Chile, and Thunder, formerly known as Nextstream, a network of data centres in six Latin American countries and the US.
Nicolas Escallon, partner in the Energy Infrastructure team, says the firm remains open to fresh opportunities to acquire clean energy platforms in the region. “We always keep our eyes open for new platforms in the region,” he says. “I would not be surprised if the existing platforms grow, but also if there is a new [platform] in the future.”
Actis has two investment funds whose mandates include Latin American infrastructure. Partner Alberto Estefan notes that the company is in the region for the long run and megatrends such as energy transition, nearshoring and digitization are creating tailwinds for Latin American economies.
“Those long-term trends provide for an environment that is highly conducive to further investments,” he says.
All this took place against the backdrop of historic consolidation in the private equity industry, following the announcement in January that US firm General Atlantic had agreed to buy Actis, adding around $12.5 billion in assets focused on energy transition, digital transition, and supply chain transformation .
That deal, which creates an investment platform with around $97 billion in combined assets under management, closed on October 2, and under its terms, Actis will retain autonomy over investment decisions with its funds continuing to operate under the Actis brand.