CDPQ and CKD IM acquire Mexican wind and solar assets of Enel Green Power, for a total capacity of 1,712 MW

• The investment totals USD 1.35 billion
• The assets are integrated into CDPQ's investment platform launched in 2015 with CKD IM, a consortium of Mexican institutional investors

MONTRÉAL and MEXICO CITY, Oct. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a long-term institutional investor, and CKD Infraestructura México (CKD IM), a consortium of Mexican institutional investors, announced today the acquisition of 80% of a portfolio of eight wind and solar assets owned by Enel Green Power (Enel), a global leader in renewable energy. Following this transaction, Enel will remain the operator and retain 20% of the portfolio.

This is a major investment for CDPQ and CKD IM, a group consisting of Mexican pension fund managers (Afores) XXI Banorte, Afore SURA, Banamex and Pensionissste, as well as infrastructure fund Fonadin. Since the creation of their investment platform in 2015, CDPQ and CKD IM have invested in road and telecommunication infrastructure. With this transaction, they now add the renewable energy sector to their portfolio.

This new partnership between CDPQ, CKD IM and Enel aligns with the highly favourable conditions in the wind and solar energy sector, as the Mexican government has set an objective to generate 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035.

"This transaction broadens our exposure in renewable energy alongside a leading operator," said Macky Tall, Executive Vice-President, Infrastructure at CDPQ. "By creating a platform with key Mexican partners in 2015, we wanted to be positioned to identify the best opportunities in Mexico, a priority market for CDPQ. This new investment in high-quality assets is perfectly in line with our strategy, and allows us to strengthen our partnership with local pension funds and other major players in Mexico."

"This acquisition marks an important step in the partnership between CKD IM and CDPQ, which will now have a well-diversified investment platform across growing sectors such as renewable energy and transportation," added Eduardo Ramos, General Manager of CKD IM. "Enel is a world-class company with a strong footprint in Mexico, and its expertise in project development, construction and operation makes it a strategic partner for us."

The five wind and three solar projects that make up the portfolio are spread across six Mexican states and represent a total capacity of 1,712 MW, of which 429 MW is operational and 1,283 MW are under construction.

ABOUT CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at June 30, 2017, it held CAD 286.5 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private credit. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.

ABOUT CKD INFRAESTRUCTURA MÉXICO S.A. DE C.V.
CKD Infraestructura México (INFRACK) is an investment vehicle funded by the largest Mexican Pension Funds, with assets under management of MXN 17.2 billion. The CKD will focus its investments in several sectors of the infrastructure market, such as energy generation (including renewable energy), transmission and distribution, transportation and public transit, among others. For more information about CKD Infraestructura Mexico: www.ckdim.com.

ABOUT AFORE XXI BANORTE
Afore XXI Banorte: biggest pension fund manager in Mexico. It was created in 2011 after the merger of Afores Banorte-Generali and Afore XXI, and is part of Grupo Financiero Banorte, one of the largest financial groups in Mexico and is co-owned at 50% by IMSS, the federal social security agency.

ABOUT AFORE SURA
Afore SURA with more than 7 million clients and USD 24.6 billion in assets under management, is the third largest pension fund manager in Mexico and a subsidiary of SURA Asset Management, the No.1 Pension Management firm in Latin America as well as a major player in the region's saving and investment sectors. SURA Asset Management is part of the multilatin holding company Grupo SURA, which is listed on the Colombian Stock Exchange and registered with the ADR Level 1 program in the United States. Grupo SURA is also the only Latin American company from the Diversified Financial Service Sector to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), which tracks companies who have become global benchmarks thanks to their best practices in economic, environmental and social aspects.

ABOUT AFORE BANAMEX
Afore Banamex is one of the founding institutions of the Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro in Mexico. With more than 18 years of experience, Afore Banamex has set the standard of reliability and gained trust of its 10 million clients: It has a experienced investment team and efficient risk models in the industry. This unique specialization allows Afore Banamex to have the highest investment certificate issued by CONSAR (Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro) and positions it as leader in financial innovating services and alternative investments in Mexico.

ABOUT PENSIONISSSTE
PENSIONISSSTE, Mexico's sole state-sponsored Pension Fund, started operations in December 2008 with a mandate to cover all public-sector employees, affiliated through 'ISSSTE' (the Fund's parent entity, a government body providing social security, including healthcare, mortgage, and leisure services, for affiliates). Nowadays, PENSIONISSSTE has MXN 175,000 million in assets under management, on behalf of 2.1 million retirement-account holders in both government and private sector, and ranks as the fifth Pension Fund in Mexico, by assets. 

ABOUT FONADIN
Fonadin is Mexico's National Infrastructure fund, a government sovereign wealth fund, set up to promote the development of national infrastructure in Mexico via public-private partnerships (PPPs), focusing on highways, ports, airports, environment, urban mass transportation, and water.

SOURCE Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Related Links

http://www.cdpq.com/