Ontario Teachers', PSP Investments and Santander Partner on Global Renewable Energy and Water Portfolio

TORONTO, MONTREAL and MADRID, December 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Assets valued at over US$2.0 billion 

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), two of Canada's largest pension funds, today announced an agreement with Banco Santander, S.A. (Santander) to jointly acquire a portfolio of renewable energy and water infrastructure assets. The assets, currently owned solely by Santander, will be transferred to a new company owned equally by all three parties.

The transaction, which is expected to close within the first half of 2015 subject to receipt of customary regulatory approvals, values the assets in excess of US$2.0 billion. Santander, PSP Investments and Teachers' intend to invest significant additional amounts in the new company over the next five years.

The portfolio includes wind, solar and water infrastructure assets located in seven countries that are operating or in development. The portfolio will be managed by an experienced team led by Marcos Sebares.

"We are excited about partnering with Santander and PSP Investments and look forward to supporting management in growing this company significantly in the coming years. This investment directly supports our focus on investing in platforms that provide access to development opportunities globally," said Andrew Claerhout, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure at Teachers'.

"This investment fits well with our strategy of deploying capital in sizeable opportunities that offer long term revenues and growth potential along with solid partners. It also allows PSP Investments to continue to develop its portfolio of private energy assets while contributing to environmentally sustainable energy production," said Bruno Guilmette, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure Investments at PSP Investments.

"Over the last seven years in Santander, the business has become one of the leading developers of renewables projects around the world, having invested over US$2 billion in renewable energy and water projects. A combination of Santander, which has consistently been voted the greenest bank in the world, and two investors, such as PSP Investments and Teachers', who have a long history of sustainable investing, marks the beginning of a new phase in the development of our company into one of the world's leading renewable energy investment companies. We have a strong balance sheet and long term investment strategy, with a mandate from shareholders to grow the new company over the next five years," said Marcos Sebares, CEO of the new entity.

Teachers' investment was led by its Infrastructure Group, which manages a global portfolio of C$11.7 billion of direct infrastructure investments, including water and wastewater, electricity distribution, gas distribution, airports, power generation, high-speed rail and port facilities.

PSP Investments' investment was led by its Infrastructure Group, which manages a global portfolio of C$6.0 billion of direct infrastructure investments, including power generation, airports, toll roads, port facilities, electricity and gas transmission, and water.

Santander's sale was led by its Asset & Capital Structuring (A&CS) team of 30 people specialized in infrastructure equity investments through its global footprint in Spain, Italy, UK, US, Brazil and Mexico. This team will manage the acquired portfolio and will lead investments in the new global renewable energy and water platform. Macquarie Capital acted as financial advisor to Santander.

About Teachers'

With C$140.8 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2013, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada. An independent organization, it invests the pension fund's assets and administers the defined benefit pensions of 307,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario. For more information, visit http://www.otpp.com. Follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo.

About PSP Investments 

PSP Investments is one of Canada's largest pension investment managers with C$99.5 billion of net assets under management as of September 30, 2014. Its highly-skilled and dedicated team of professionals manages a diversified global portfolio including public equities, private equity, bonds and other fixed-income securities, real estate, infrastructure and renewable resources. PSP Investments is a Crown corporation established to manage employer and employee net contributions since April 1, 2000, to the pension funds of the federal Public Service, the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and since March 1, 2007, of the Reserve Force. PSP Investments' head office is located in Ottawa, Ontario, and its principal business office is in Montréal, Québec. For more information, visit http://www.investpsp.ca.

About Santander

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N, BNC.LN) is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with a presence in 10 main markets. Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.34 trillion in managed funds, 107 million customers, 13,225 branches - more than any other international bank - and 183,648 employees at the close of June 2014. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America. It also has significant positions in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Poland and the northeast United States. In the first half of 2014, Santander registered EUR 2.756 billion in attributable profit, an increase of 22% from the same period of the previous year.

PSP Investments: Mark Boutet, Vice-President, Communications and Government Relations, +1-(514)925-5431, mboutet@investpsp.ca; Santander: Comunicación Externa, +34-91-289-52-11; comunicacion@gruposantander.com; Teachers': Deborah Allan, Vice-President, Communications, +1-(416)730-5347, deborah_allan@otpp.com