InfraMed infrasctructuurfonds voor Mediterrane Unie gelanceerd (en)

Paris, May 26, 2010 - Caisse des Dépôts (CDC), Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) and EFG Hermes have launched InfraMed Infrastructure, the first financing facility of the Union for the Mediterranean. The InfraMed Fund will be the largest fund dedicated to investments in infrastructure in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region. With initial commitments of EUR 385 million, the new fund is targeting commitments of EUR 1 billion.

Augustin de Romanet, CEO of Caisse des Dépôts (France), Professor Franco Bassanini, President of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Italy), Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Anass Houir Alami, CEO of Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (Morocco) and Yasser El Mallawany, CEO of EFG Hermes (Egypt), all of whom members of the Investors Board of the Company, signed today in Paris to set up InfraMed and collectively committed EUR 385 million at first close.

At its first meeting, the Investors Board appointed Professor Franco Bassanini as its Chairman and Messrs Augustin de Romanet and Anass Houir Alami as Vice-Chairmen,

The Board designated Mr Rachid Mohammed Rachid, Minister of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt as Chairman of the Strategic Board that will be responsible for providing strategic advice and orientation on the overall development of the Company’s activities.

It also approved Mr Frederic Ottavy to be appointed as CEO of ‘InfraMed Management’ that will run the Fund. An “Investment Committee” composed of a majority of independent members will approve individual investments.

‘InfraMed Infrastructure’ (the “Company” or the Fund), which will be established under French law, will contribute to the ‘Union for the Mediterranean’ by providing funding to sustainable urban, energy and transport infrastructure projects on the Southern and Eastern shores of the Mediterranean.

The Fund will invest primarily in greenfield projects, compliant with minimum requirements with respect to environmental protection, social impact, transparency and procurement, and with a view to generally holding investments over a longer term than traditional private equity infrastructure funds, the Company being rooted in a philosophy of long term economic return.

A unique characteristic of InfraMed Infrastructure is that it will rely on a partnership with Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (Morocco) and EFG Hermes (Egypt), and with local infrastructure investment funds to be raised by these two institutions in their respective countries. Two newly created funds will invest in infrastructure projects alongside InfraMed that will allocate a minimum of 20% of its investments to each of Egypt and Morocco.

Caisse des Dépôts and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will each commit EUR 150 million, Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion EUR 20 million, EFG Hermes EUR 15 million and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the financing institution of the European Union, EUR 50 million. The Fund volume is targeted at EUR 1 billion.

For more information on InfraMed, see the briefing note here attached.

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Background information:

Caisse des Dépôts Group

Caisse des Dépôts is a state-owned holding company established in 1816 that makes long-term investments on behalf of the public interest and in order to foster economic development. Providing sustainable solutions with a view to developing all French regions, Caisse des Dépôts constantly invents new ways to further national and local policy objectives. As part of its Elan 2020 strategic plan, it identified four investment priorities: housing and cities, universities and the knowledge economy, SME’s, and the environment and sustainable development.

Caisse des Dépôts is also active in the competitive sector of the economy through its subsidiaries, with investments in businesses via the Fonds stratégique d’investissement—FSI (Strategic Investment Fund), CDC Entreprises and Qualium Investissement, as well as in personal insurance, property, local and regional development services. Finally, Caisse des Dépôts is increasingly involved in infrastructure financing through its new subsidiary CDC Infrastructure, and in carbon financing through CDC Climate. www.caissedesdepots.fr

Key figures 2008

Total assets: € 255.6 billion

Equity attributable to the group: € 19.2 billion

Total saving funds administered by Caisse des Dépôts: € 224 billion

Rating: AAA/Aaa

Employees - Caisse des Dépôts: 5,400 - Group: 73,500, among which more than 50 % abroad

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) - Italy

Founded in 1850, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is a joint-stock company under public control. The Ministry of the Economy and Finance owns 70% of the company, while the remaining 30% is held by a broad group of bank foundations. For 160 years CDP has been pursuing a public interest mission: financing the development of the country. Using postal funding, CDP finances the State, the Regions and other local Authorities and public entities. Using funding raised from institutional investors, CDP finances: projects, plants, networks and other infrastructure to be used to deliver public services, on market terms and conditions.

CDP in 2009: Net income: €1,7 bn, total Assets: €227 bn, Postal funding €190,7 bn, Equity investments and Shares: €18,3 bn. www.cassaddpp.it

The European Investment Bank (EIB)

The European Investment Bank was created by the Treaty of Rome in 1958 as the long-term lending bank of the European Union. The task of the Bank is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States. The EIB raises substantial volumes of funds on the capital markets (with a consistent AAA rating) which it lends on favourable terms to projects furthering EU policy objectives. The EIB is wholly owned by the EU’s 27 member states and it continuously adapts its activity to developments in EU policies. The Bank also mounts operations outside the Union in the framework of the EU development aid and cooperation policies benefiting more than 160 countries around the world. In 2009, the EIB granted loans totalling over EUR 79 billion (8.6 billion of which outside the Union) and tapped EUR 79.4 billion from the capital markets under 262 borrowing operations.

FEMIP stands for the “Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership” of the EIB. It groups groups together all the instruments used by the European Investment Bank to carry out its activities in the Mediterranean partner countries. It has been operating since October 2002 and is today the key player in the economic and financial partnership between Europe and the Mediterranean, providing more than EUR 10bn (of which 1.6 billion in 2009) in support of projects in the nine Mediterranean partner countries. www.eib.org/femip

Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (Morocco)

Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) is a financial institution, founded as a public institution in 1959, with the primary objective of receiving, safeguarding, and managing savings resources that require specific security.

CDG is engaged in Morocco’s largest structuring projects. Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion is today the leading institutional investor in the Kingdom of Morocco and one of the major actors in the national economy.

The ultimate ambition of CDG is to play an active role in the economic and social development of the country.

The Group organization is centered around four main areas of activity:

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  Deposits and Consignments
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  Provident and Pension Funds
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  Banking, Finance, and Insurance
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  Territorial and Sustainable Development

CDG Key figures (2009): (1€ = (app) 11 Moroccan Dirham / MAD)

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  Total Assets : MAD 65.2 billion
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  Deposits: MAD 53.1 billion
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  Bond portfolio: MAD 22.9 billion
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  Net banking income: MAD 1.4 billion
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  Net Income: MAD 0.4 billion

www.cdg.ma

EFG Hermes

Established in 1984, EFG Hermes is the leading investment bank in the Arab world. The firm specializes in Investment Banking, Asset Management, Private Equity, Securities Brokerage and Research. With listings on both the Egyptian and London stock exchanges, EFG Hermes currently boasts a market capitalization of around USD 2.2 billion. Through its operations in Egypt, the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman and Syria and with 990 employees of 25 nationalities, EFG Hermes serves a considerable and diversified client base from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe, Africa and the United States. Our clients include governments, corporations, financial institutions, high net worth individuals and retail customers.

For further information about EFG Hermes, please visit www.efghermes.com