CPP pays $1.1B for Chilean toll highways

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is committing $1.14 billion to acquire about half ownership in five major toll roads in Chile, part of its strategy of making long-term investments to support future benefit payments.

The rest of the Chilean company will be owned by the Atlantia Group, an international toll company based in Italy that is selling 49.99 per cent of Grupo Costanera to the CPP Investment Board.

Grupo Costanera will be another addition to the Canadian fund manager's other infrastructure holdings, which were worth $8.6 billion as of Dec. 31.

However, the Chilean investment will represent a very small portion of the $152.8 billion of assets in the CPP Fund as of the end of last year.

The CPP Investment Board invests and manages funds that aren't required by the Canada Pension Plan to pay current benefits.

The CPP is a federally administered program funded by contributions from employers and employees in every province but Quebec, which has a separate system.

The CPP isn't expected to draw upon its investment funds until several years from now.

"The addition of these five major urban toll roads in Chile is an excellent opportunity to expand our infrastructure portfolio in a developing market," said Andre Bourbonnais, CPPIB's senior vice-president for private investments.

"As a long-term investor, we seek infrastructure assets that will deliver stable returns over a prolonged period. We look forward to partnering with Atlantia, one of the world's leading toll road operators."