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LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - British infrastructure investorJohn Laing Group is to list on the London Stock Exchange toraise money for new investments and step up its expansion in theUnited States.
The group said on Monday it expected to raise gross proceedsof around 130 million pounds ($197 million).
John Laing, which was taken private by investment firmHenderson in 2007, could be valued at up to 1 billionpounds in the deal, a source familiar with the matter said.
The firm deals mainly in Public Private Partnerships (PPP),where private investors fund and deliver government projects,and has expanded into continental Europe and Australia as wellas the United States.
Chief Executive Olivier Brousse said the company would focuson building its profile in the United States before looking tonew locations. He added that the firm hoped the UK market wouldrevive in coming years following the financial crisis.
"It's been subdued in the last couple of years in the UK,"Brousse said. "But we believe that there is so muchinfrastructure to be built that government will need the privatesector to fund the projects and also deliver them."
Consulting firm McKinsey has estimated that $57 trillion ofglobal infrastructure investment is needed between 2013 and 2030as the world grapples with a growing population and thecongestion of existing infrastructure, as well as rising energyneeds.
The United Nations projected in 2013 that the current worldpopulation of 7.2 billion could hit 9.6 billion by 2050.
John Laing's projects include the 60,000 seat New PerthStadium in Australia and Britain's 4.7 billion-pound IntercityExpress Programme. The firm had an investment portfolio bookvalue of 781 million pounds as of Sept. 30 last year.
The model of contracting out public projects to privatefirms has proved controversial in the past, with critics sayingsome have resulted in poor deals for taxpayers and leftgovernments unable to renegotiate contracts following the globalrecession.
John Laing only invests and manages new projects, includinghospitals, trainlines and bridges. The firm has taken on over100 projects in the past three decades.
The firm's issue will consist of new and existing shares.The initial public offering (IPO) is being run by Barclays andHSBC. RBC Capital Markets is acting as lead manager, whileGreenhill is financial adviser.
($1 = 0.6602 British Pounds) (Reporting by Freya Berry; Editing by Keith Weir and MarkPotter)
