Specialist international investment manager Amber Infrastructure Group has reached financial close on an investment in Flinders University’s Health and Medical Research Building (HMRB) in South Australia. With a total project value of A$255 million, HMRB represents Amber’s first move into Australia’s higher education sector.
The HMRB is the flagship development of the Flinders Village project, an integrated health and education precinct development at Flinders University’s Bedford Park campus. The HMRB will co-locate research, clinical and technological platforms to further the University’s longstanding contributions to the health, education and medical sectors.
The HMRB investment was made by the Amber-advised International Public Partnerships Limited and as part of a consortium with Tetris Capital. Under the agreement, INPP and Flinders University will enter into a 25-year lease arrangement (with a fixed indexing rental) with the University owning the facility at the expiry of the lease term. Tetris Capital will provide ongoing management services to the project entity.
Flinders University has appointed Hansen Yuncken to carry out the project build,
targeting International WELLv2 Building Institute and LEEDv4 certifications and a self-assessed 5-star Green Star Design and ‘As Built’ rating, in line with the University and Amber’s sustainability guidelines.
Amber’s Australian team manages investments in over A$7bn of infrastructure assets across the public, healthcare, transport, energy, and digital sectors. Managed investments include the Royal Children’s Hospital, Gold Coast Light Rail, a portfolio of schools in NSW and Victoria, and a recently acquired majority stake in leading Australian data centre platform, iseek.
Amber’s Head of Asia-Pacific, Vaughan Wallace, said: “This investment is a good example of Amber Australia harnessing our global platform and industry knowledge to move quickly when opportunities arise. We provide flexible financing structures tailored to meet the needs of all stakeholders on projects that add value to their operating environments.
“As South Australia’s third largest university, Flinders University has ambitious development plans for its advanced health and medical research precinct. Amber Australia has responded quickly to meet this funding project’s relatively short timeline, allowing us to facilitate their growth and development strategy. With its excellent ESG credentials, HMRB was a good match for our strict funding criteria, which ensures essential infrastructure assets increase long term value for our investors and the communities involved. We are therefore excited to assist in financing this flagship project – our first super core public private partnership (PPP) in Australia’s university sector.”
Building of the HMRB is due to commence this month and is expected to be operational in 2024.