The Caisse invests AU$32 million in Melbourne's Biosciences Research Centre along with Plenary Group

MONTREAL, March 13, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec today announced an investment of AU$32 million in Melbourne's Centre for AgriBioscience (AgriBio) under an agreement with Plenary Group, one of Australia's infrastructure leaders.

"This investment in a social-infrastructure project enables us to increase our presence in Australia, a market presenting great business opportunities," said Macky Tall, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure, at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. "Because these projects are carried out under 15-, 20- or even 30-year agreements, they enable us to generate stable, predictable returns for our depositors over the long term."

Plenary Group's Managing Director, Mr. Paul Oppenheim said, "This recent investment by the Caisse brings their total investment in Plenary Group projects to over AU$200 million.  It underlines the quality of our portfolio and our asset management capability.  The Caisse partnership is the cornerstone of an equity platform that allows Plenary to play a critical role in Australia's major infrastructure projects."

The Centre for AgriBioscience is a joint venture between the Victorian State Government and La Trobe University. It includes research laboratories, greenhouses and offices that will be used by more than 400 researchers. In an effort to support and protect Victoria's AU$11.6-billion agricultural sector, the research carried out will focus in particular on identifying and studying diseases likely to attack living cultures and organisms.

The project will be carried out under a 25-year agreement that includes design, construction, financing and operation of the facility.

The other projects the Caisse invested in with Plenary in 2012, included a cancer research centre, a hospital, court facilities and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

ABOUT THE CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a financial institution that manages funds primarily for public and private pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2012, it held $176.2 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, the Caisse invests in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate globally. For more information: www.lacaisse.com.

ABOUT PLENARY GROUP
Plenary Group is an independent long-term investor, developer and operator of public infrastructure, with businesses in both Australia and Canada. Plenary Group has quickly grown into the largest specialist Public Private Partnership (PPP) business in the region, successfully achieving financial close on nine PPP projects in the Australian market. Plenary Group projects in Australia have a project capitalization of over AU$5 billion and a project capitalization of over AU$11 billion globally. For more information: www.plenarygroup.com.

Image with caption: "The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec invests AU$32 million in Melbourne's Centre for AgriBioscience (AgriBio) under an agreement with Plenary Group, one of Australia's infrastructure leaders. (CNW Group/CAISSE DE DEPOT ET PLACEMENT DU QUEBEC)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130313_C4596_PHOTO_EN_24518.jpg

SOURCE: CAISSE DE DEPOT ET PLACEMENT DU QUEBEC

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Sarah-Émilie Bouchard
Senior Advisor and Writer, Media Relations
514 847-5493
[email protected]

Plenary Group
Kelvyn Lavelle
Executive Director, Corporate Affairs
[phone]
[email protected]