Referral Brings Connectivity, Collaboration, First Toll Road Investment by Ullico Infrastructure Fund

Through a referral from the Royal Bank of Canada, our capital and transactions advisory, technical and traffic engineering team advised our client Ullico Infrastructure Fund (Ullico) to complete its first toll road investment.

This is an acquisition of a minority interest in a 42-year operating concession. The transaction reached financial close at the height of the COVID-19 crisis on March 31, 2020 with a major investment in Metropistas, an operating toll road concessionaire in Puerto Rico.

In December 2019, as most people were preparing for the holiday season, Jacobs was starting a new advisory relationship with Ullico and COVID-19 was creeping into our lives around the world.

As Ullico was evaluating its intended investment in an operating concession in Puerto Rico, it needed an independent, credible analysis of the technical and operational merits of the toll roads in question. Our team worked across several continents and featured multiple disciplines – capital and transaction advisory, traffic engineering, toll financing and technical assessments including roadway and structural evaluations.

“With Ullico, the notable feat is that this transaction achieved financial close during the peak month for COVID-19 in March after a period when hardly any traffic showed up on the toll roads.” Jacobs’ Strategic Consulting group’s Yuval Cohen shared. “The client focused on the long-term performance potential of the roads that play a critical role in the island economy. Our work informed them on the long-term dynamics of roads that have experienced rapid declines right now but likely to emerge stronger after the inevitable recovery.”

The technical strength and veracity of our analysis - delivered in a record four months from start to end - provided confidence to Ullico’s decision to invest in Metropistas, and informed their bid price. Ullico Infrastructure Fund currently has investments in the water, waste water, electricity transmission, power generation, transportation and gas transmission sectors and is exploring opportunities in all core sectors. Ullico will be focused on protecting their 42-year investment in Metropistas with a goal of delivering stable, predictable outflows to its investors.

For the Jacobs team, the collaboration and connectivity are what ignited a positive outcome for Ullico, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which thankfully did not affect this major accomplishment.