Santander, Teachers' and PSP Investments Launch Cubico Sustainable Investments

LONDON, MADRID, TORONTO and MONTREAL, May 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Assets valued at over US$2 billion - focus on renewable energy and water infrastructure

28^th May: media Q&A with Cubico Sustainable Investments, CEO, Marcos Sebares

Two conference calls: 11:00am BST (GMT +1) and 16:00 BST (GMT +1)

See conference call details below press release

Banco Santander, S.A. ("Santander"), Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan ("Teachers") and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board ("PSP Investments") today announced the formal launch of Cubico Sustainable Investments ("Cubico"), a London-headquartered firm established to manage and invest in renewable energy and water infrastructure assets globally.

Owned equally by Santander and two of Canada's largest pension funds, Teachers and PSP Investments, the firm has significant capital to invest and is committed to a long-term growth strategy designed to make it one of the largest and best in class renewable energy and water investors in the world.

Following the transfer of 19 wind, solar and water infrastructure assets previously owned by Santander, Cubico has a balanced and diversified portfolio valued at more than US$2 billion. The assets in operation, construction or under development have a total capacity of more than 1,400 megawatts and are located across seven countries: Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Cubico is led by Santander's former Asset & Capital Structuring (A&CS) team of 30 professionals who specialise in managing and investing in infrastructure investments globally. A&CS team leader Marcos Sebares becomes Chief Executive Officer of Cubico, which will manage the current portfolio and lead investments in the new global renewable energy and water infrastructure platform.

Cubico has a flexible investment mandate and through its strong origination capability will focus on identifying assets that will achieve significant scale and value over the lifetime of its ownership. Cubico has the mandate to hold assets for the long term.

Alongside capital and financial expertise, a local Cubico specialist will take an important role in the management of each of its assets, ensuring that resources, contacts, ideas and knowledge of best practice are brought to all its investments.

Cubico will be headquartered in London, with regional offices in Milan, Sao Paulo and Mexico DF. The firm's management team built a strong proven track record at Santander with a reputation as one of the leading global renewables developers, having invested more than US$2 billion in renewable energy and water projects. Cubico will build on the A&CS strategy of developing a global platform of diversified infrastructure assets that generate stable cash flows and superior returns.

Marcos Sebares, Chief Executive Officer, Cubico Sustainable Investments, commented:

"Today represents the beginning of an exciting new chapter for us. Renewable and water infrastructure developments require decisive long-term investment and commitment. We are uniquely positioned to provide this through our strong ownership structure, experienced team and global footprint. We have already built a strong pipeline of attractive assets to add to the platform and look forward to working with our partners over the coming years to consolidate Cubico's position as one of the world's leading renewable energy and water infrastructure investors."

Andrew Claerhout, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure at Teachers', commented: "We are pleased to have worked with our partners to create Cubico. We look forward to supporting the strong management team and its efforts to build a platform for global growth in the renewable energy and water sector."

Bruno Guilmette, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure Investments at PSP Investments, commented: "We are pleased to have completed this landmark transaction alongside reputable partners such as Banco Santander and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. This new joint venture will allow us to continue to grow and develop our portfolio of private energy assets while contributing to environmentally sustainable energy production."

Juan Andres Yanes, Senior Executive Vice President, Banco Santander S.A, commented: "This is the culmination of almost two years of focused work that started in 2013 with the identification of the sale opportunity and the best parties to join us in this innovative endeavour. We are pleased to start this new joint venture with Teachers' and PSP Investments, two of the best known pension funds in infrastructure investment. We are confident that this venture represents a significant milestone for Santander to increase its footprint in the renewable and water infrastructure industry."

Notes to Editors: 

Conference call details 

Access number (UK) +44(0)330-336-6010

Guest Passcode: 455 076 3928

International codes: https://mtginfo.pgi.com/globalcallmanagement.asp?bwebid=9820041&cid=da6ee6b9d7e65a11d778fcef4d4b&confid=da6ee6bcd7e85a16d77cfcee4d49&brandid=176

About Cubico Sustainable Investments ("Cubico")

Cubico Sustainable Investments is one of the world's most innovative renewable energy and water investors. Launched in May 2015, the firm is equally owned by three shareholders, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, two of Canada's largest pension funds, and Banco Santander. There are currently 19 assets, consisting of wind, solar and water infrastructure assets, located across seven countries with a total capacity of over 1400 megawatts. The firm is committed to managing and developing a geographically diversified portfolio of infrastructure projects, which will generate stable and fully contracted cash flows to deliver sustainable and long term revenues for its investors.

For more information visit our website http://www.cubicoinvest.com.

About Teachers'  

With C$154.5 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2014, 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 311,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario. For more information, visit http://www.otpp.com. Follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo.

About PSP Investments  

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board ("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 1.42 trillion in managed funds, 117 million customers, 12.951 branches - more than any other international bank - and 185,405 employees at the close 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 2014, Santander registered EUR 5.816billion in attributable profit, an increase of 39% from the same period of the previous year.

For further information, please contact:  

Cubico Sustainable Investment:
Seán Galvin / Emily Desmier / Stephanie Blott, FTI Consulting, +44 20 3727 1000, Cubico@fticonsulting.com

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