HedgeCo.Net — Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and OMERS have agreed to sell their entire stakes in Associated British Ports to a fund managed by IFM Investors, handing majority control of the United Kingdom’s largest ports group to the Australian pension-owned manager. CPP Investments holds 33.9% of ABP and OMERS holds 30.0%, for a combined 63.88% of the ABP (Jersey) group according to an ABP Finance issuer notice. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The buyer is Global Infraco Haven Bidco, an indirect subsidiary of IFM Global Infrastructure Fund. Completion is subject to customary shareholder and regulatory approvals, including UK national-security filings, and is expected in the first half of 2027. Bloomberg reported an approximately £10 billion valuation for the port operator, citing a person familiar with the matter, a figure that is not a disclosed price for the stake.
ABP operates 19 facilities that handle approximately 25% of UK seaborne trade and supports more than half of the country’s offshore wind activity, according to the sellers. OMERS first invested in 2006 and CPP Investments in 2015. OMERS pointed to energy-transition projects developed during its ownership, including the Immingham Renewable Fuels Terminal, Green Port Hull and Southampton’s Horizon cruise terminal. CPP Investments said the sale lets it realize the value of a long-term investment and recycle capital.
Kyle Mangini, IFM’s global head of infrastructure, framed the deal as pension money flowing into UK infrastructure. IFM, which is owned by Australian pension funds and the UK pension scheme Nest, manages about £157 billion. “This transaction reflects our longstanding commitment to mobilising pension capital into UK infrastructure,” he said.
For infrastructure investors, the deal is a clean example of the asset class’s long hold periods turning over. Two Canadian pensions are exiting a core port platform after nearly 20 and 11 years respectively, and another pension-owned manager is stepping in for the next phase. With terms undisclosed, the remaining questions are the valuation achieved against the reported £10 billion and how the national-security review handles a change of control at critical trade infrastructure.