(October 9, 2013) — A large Danish pension fund has inked its first public private partnership (PPP) and will fund the construction of a hospital wing in the east of the country.
IndustriensPension is to fund the construction—and operation—costs of the new radiotherapy unit at the Næstved Hospital, it announced today.
The project will cost the fund around DKK110 million (€14.7 million) to build. The unit is set to come online in 2015 and will enable a further 10,000 Danes to have access to the cancer treatment.
“It is very satisfying that we know going into this public-private partnership can help to provide the citizens of the region better treatment,” said Laila Mortensen, CEO of IndustriensPension. “The partnership makes it possible to construct a building of high quality and therefore lower operating costs. At the same time we ensure the 400,000 industrial workers [who save with us will have] stable returns over a long period, and have created Danish construction activity for the benefit of employment. All involved parties benefit from this partnership.”
The pension fund caters for workers in the construction and other heavy industries.
“We are pleased that there are now starting to be more PPP projects in Denmark,” Mortensen said. “There are prospects to achieve a reasonable rate of return. With the PPP model, we can both contribute to society and give members of the plan the maximum pensions.”
Danish investors have been comfortable with infrastructure for some time.
ATP, PensionDanmark, and other large funds have branched out into the asset class.
Last week, National fund ATP and PFA Pension, Denmark’s largest commercial pensions company, announced they had partnered with investment bank Goldman Sachs to boost share capital in local energy firm DONG.
In August, Danish pension provider PensionDanmark announced a joint venture with Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S to build, own, and operate biomass power plants internationally.
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