Cintra, GIP, HSBC dominate II awards

Cintra, Global Infrastructure Partners and HSBC were among the most respected names in the world of infrastructure finance in 2010, according to Infrastructure Investor’s annual awards poll.

Each firm won or shared credit in three of 46 award categories up for grabs this year, the most of any nominee. Last year’s awards were more concentrated, with fund managers Meridiam Infrastructure and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) each sweeping four categories.

Spanish toll road group Cintra won Latin American Infrastructure Deal of the Year for the sale of its Chilean road stake to ISA and, in North America, Developer of the Year and PPP Transaction of the Year for its participation in the $2.7 billion LBJ Express project in Texas.

Meridiam, Cintra’s partner on the LBJ project, shared in the North American PPP Transaction of the Year award and also took the title for European Infrastructure Fund Manager of the Year.

GIP, the $5.64 billion infrastructure fund manager, took the honour of Global Infrastructure Fund Manager of the Year and North American Infrastructure Fund Manager of the Year – both titles it won in last year’s poll as well.

This year, the firm also shared credit for the Asian Infrastructure Deal of the Year alongside Industry Funds Management and Queensland Investment Corporation for the firms’ winning A$2.1 billion (€1.5 billion; $2.1 billion) bid for the Port of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.

HSBC  was the only bank to win in more than one geographic region, sweeping the Infrastructure Bank of the Year awards for Asia and the Middle East. The bank had won in the Asia bracket last year, while the Middle East was a new addition in 2010.

HSBC also shared in the award for the Asian PPP Transaction of the Year, the Singapore Sports Hub. The project attracted $1.3 billion of debt from 11 banks, including HSBC, for what is regarded as the largest sports and leisure PPP in the world. HSBC Infrastructure Fund III also participated in the winning consortium for the sports complex alongside Bouygues.

Other firms to post a storng showing in this year’s awards were developers Vinci, GDF Suez and Eiffage, which each won in two categories, as well as law firm Allen & Overy, fund manager Antin Infrastructure Partners and Russian banking group VTB Capital, which also took titles in two categories each.

Below is a list of this year’s and last year’s winners, complete with runner’s up. The same list, plus winner-by-winner analysis, appears in Infrastructure Investor’s Review of 2010, available to subscribers with the March issue.