ABL Life co-invests in Everbright’s infra fund with 13% return

Korea’s ABL Life Insurance Co. has participated in Everbright Overseas Infrastructure Investment Fund LP, a $460 million fund managed by Hong Kong-listed China Everbright Ltd. Two Everbright affiliates injected a combined $400 million, while ABL and China Life Insurance Company Ltd. invested $31 million and $30 million, respectively, sources familiar with the matter told The Korea Economic Daily.

Everbright launched the firm's first overseas infrastructure fund in 2017 and closed it in August 2019. The fund has invested in China’s JD Logistics Inc., Hong Kong-based Top Express Telecommunication Service Ltd. and a DHL logistics center in Thailand. Equities in JD Logistics and the DHL warehouse will be disposed of by the end of this year, the source said.

The fund has sold two assets to date, reaching a 13% return. It closed the deal of Boreal Holdings AS and its subsidiaries, a leading public transportation services provider based in Stavanger, Norway, to Paris-based Vauban Infrastructure Partners last November. Many global infrastructure blind pool funds participated in the public bidding for the company as Norway’s bus routes guarantee stable profits as they are part of a public transportation system. The fund gained a 17% return from the sale, The Korea Economic Daily understood.

The other asset is Albania’s Tirana International Airport SHPK sold at the end-2020 to Kastrati Group SHA, an Albania-based petroleum company. The return from the sale reached 15%, and the global airport deals are set to increase thanks to positive outlooks for post-pandemic flight services, the sources said. Aiming for an 11-13% rate of return, the fund will liquidate all its assets by 2023.

Write to Jihyun Kim at snowy@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.