John Laing Group
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (February 2013) |
| File:Johnlainglogo.PNG | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial Services |
| Founded | 1848 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
Key people | Adrian Ewer, CEO |
| Owner | Henderson Equity Partners |
| Website | www.laing.com |
John Laing is a specialist investor, operator and manager of public sector infrastructure assets in the UK and overseas. By combining its skill in the management of development risk, project financing, asset management and operations with those of its chosen partners and the project supply chain it has built an enviable reputation as a market leader in the privately financed form of infrastructure renewal and modernisation.
The company's reputation is the product of its success in managing 76 privately-financed infrastructure schemes for the public sector, ranging from the Intercity Express Programme, the Second Severn Crossing between England and Wales and the Greater Manchester Waste Management PFI as well as transport, health, renewable energy and special purpose government facilities in the UK and overseas.
The company was acquired by Henderson Equity Partners in December 2006.
History
John Laing is a company that is now over 160 years old. It began as a building company based in Carlisle in the North West of England and soon grew to become a major construction company creating assets as diverse as the M1 motorway, Sizewell B nuclear power station, Coventry Cathedral and even some of the Mulberry Harbours used in the D-Day landings in World War II. This gave the company an insight into what was needed to create sustainable projects that went to the heart of a country’s economy and society. This expertise was the platform that allowed the company to become an investor in infrastructure with the confidence that there was a high probability of the project succeeding.
John Laing’s first infrastructure investment was in the 65km Europistas Toll Road, which links Bilbao and Behobia in northern Spain. The £5 million project was won as long ago as 1969 and bore all the characteristics of modern day toll road project, underlining John Laing’s credentials as a truly international company prepared to operate at the leading edge of market developments. The project was a resounding success, thus enabling the concession company to refinance through a public listing on the Spanish Stock Market in 1988.
During the next 20 or so years following that first investment, John Laing continued to invest in an increasing number of assets based both in the UK and overseas, such as Birmingham Airport, Chiltern Railways and Darwin International Airport in Australia. Eventually in 2001, John Laing restructured its business to reflect its new strategic focus on investment in social and economic infrastructure assets for the public sector, and disposed of non-core activities, such as contracting, housebuilding, and property development.
Building on its considerable heritage and strong reputation within the UK and overseas construction market, in 2001 John Laing successfully repositioned itself in the global economy by combining skills in the management of development risk, project financing, asset management and operations with those of its chosen partners. This has led to the company establishing an enviable reputation as a market leader in the privately financed form of infrastructure renewal and modernisation, now recognised as a key element of public sector procurement policy.
Current operations
In July 2012, the financial close of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) marked John Laing's achievement of its 100th infrastructure investment project.
The IEP is amongst the biggest contracts ever signed in the UK rail industry, with a total value in excess of £4.5 billion, and will mean a step change in reliability, capability and comfort to passengers travelling in the UK.
As well as the UK, John Laing is active in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company has offices in Toronto, Vancouver, The Netherlands, Sydney and Melbourne. These offices are tasked with accessing a pipeline of projects in joint ventures with local partners overthe coming years. From these offices, regional market developments are tracked and projects developed, both within those countries and others in the respective regions.
In the countries John Laing operates in, infrastructure markets requiring private finance follow established procurement models, although the balance of economic and social infrastructure varies from country to country, as does the extent to which patronage or revenue risk applies.
As the demand for privately-financed infrastructure spreads around the world, John Laing has built an enviable record for proactive market positioning and an impressive success rate. Its understanding of the relationship of how private and public sectors can work together has been established in the UK but John Laing is now applying this expertise and experience further in the global market.
John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF)
John Laing regularly reviews its investment portfolio in order to assess whether it is commercially advantageous to dispose of mature projects to raise capital to fund new business bids. In 2010, it was recognised that there was strong appetite from external investors for stable yield from PFI/PPP infrastructure projects, and so it was decided to launch a listed fund, called the John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF). This was successfully launched on the London Stock Exchange in November 2010, raising its full target amount of £270 million.
As part of the launch, JLIF acquired an original portfolio of 19 PFI/PPP investments which were all operational and all sourced from John Laing. This portfolio comprised projects that John Laing either bid for and won or acquired after financial close – the oldest being the M40 which reached financial close in 1996.
Since then JLIF has gone from strength to strength acquiring further projects from John Laing and also assets from third parties in the wider secondary market. It is now a member of the FTSE 250 with a market capitalisation of over £450 million. John Laing continues to manage the vast majority of JLIF’s projects and also provides the asset portfolio to JLIF through John Laing Capital Management.
The JLIF portfolio in September 2012 comprises interests in 37 availability based PFI/PPP assets ranging from roads, transport and street lighting to accommodation, such as hospitals, schools, courts and social housing. These are all geographically diversified through the UK, Canada and Europe. JLIF will continue to strive to achieve steady growth in the underlying portfolio value of its projects, and pay a stable dividend to its shareholders.
Looking to the future, John Laing will contemplate selling more of its stable operational projects in its core sectors to JLIF, which will raise more capital for John Laing to meet its long term growth plans. This would also contribute to the growth of JLIF.
References
www.laing.com