Hogan Lovells Advises Lloyds Banking Group on the Establishment of its European Infrastructure Fund

Hogan Lovells has advised Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds) on the establishment of its European infrastructure investment vehicle (the Fund) with substantial investment from a series of European pension funds. The Fund will target European assets and has already secured an interest in the new Paris Courts PPP project and in Lloyds\' continental European bid pipeline.

The transaction included advice on the Fund constitution, as well as structuring the ownership of the Paris Courts asset with Dutch and French law input and arranging the transfer of the existing bid pipeline The Hogan Lovells team has been supporting the Lloyds infra fund initiative since its inception.

The Fund will support PPP projects through the bidding process and invest right from financial close.

This transaction demonstrates the continued appetite of institutional investors, particularly among pension funds, to invest in the infrastructure market which continues to offer steady and attractive rates of return despite the uncertain economic environment.

The Hogan Lovells team advising Lloyds on the fund establishment was led by investment funds partner Nicholas Holman with infrastructure and project finance partner Philip Brown and tax partner Kevin Ashman and senior associates Sarah Stewart and Charles Ford with assistance from associates Fiona Bantock, Rachel Candler and Mark Nash. Internationally, input was provided by partners Anton Louwinger in Amsterdam and Xenia Legendre and Bruno Cantier in Paris.

Nick Holman, partner, said: "We are delighted to have been able to support the Lloyds infrastructure team through the gestation of its European fund offering and look forward to working with them on the other planned elements of their infra fund business going forward."