Manager selected for Colombian Infrastructure Fund

(Special, February 20, 2009).- The consortium formed by Ashmore Investment Management Limited and Inverlink SA has been selected as manager of the Infrastructure Fund of Colombia with Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc as technical adviser. The Fund is part of the coordination activities agreed by the Colombian government, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) when in October 2008 they signed a memorandum of understanding to structure mechanisms to finance investment in infrastructure in Colombia because of the growing requirements for investments in that sector.

As part of the coordination activities, IDB and CAF invited organizations with international experience in the creation and management of private-capital infrastructure funds to participate in a private competitive selection process for Fund Manager. The invited institutions were recommended to associate with local firms for the selection process. In total five proposals were received which complied with the requirements of the selection criteria.

Selection of the winning consortium was based on the participants’ credentials and experience. In this respect, the winning Ashmore-Inverlink consortium has wide experience and recognition in structuring of investments for infrastructure projects at international and local level in emerging markets. As adviser Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc has broad experience in global infrastructure.

The consortium members, including the adviser Macquarie, have agreed to invest in the fund capital (directly or through associates or their managed funds), subject to the respective approvals.

The Fund is will have an initial capital of US$500 million and be structured as a private-capital fund under Colombian law. The objective of the Fund is to support development of projects and companies mainly in the transport, energy, water and sanitation, communications and logistics sectors.

The Colombian government through the Colombian Foreign Trade Bank (Bancoldex), IDB and CAF, subject to integrated analysis of the operation by each institution, their respective policies and approvals from the competent domestic bodies, including approval by the respective Executive Boards of each body, will consider contributing funds or providing finance to the Fund. These funds will be in addition to contributions from local and international institutional investors aimed at an initial closing of the fund by the middle of this year.

Bancoldex S.A is the Colombian bank for business development and foreign trade, attached to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. The Bank’s mission is to contribute to the competitiveness of Colombian companies related to foreign trade and the domestic market through an extensive portfolio of financial and specialized non-financial services. The Bank focuses all its efforts on offering medium and long-term finance to support the productive transformation of companies, especially MSMEs. The Bank’s financial activity is supplemented by offering a series of integrated development agency services for business.

IDB is the main source of multilateral financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. Its Structured and Corporate Financing Department is responsible for non-sovereign guaranteed operations, which include loans and credit guarantees for private-sector companies and public sector bodies.

CAF is a multilateral financial institution whose mission is to support the sustainable development of its shareholder countries and regional integration. Its members are currently 17 countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. The shareholders are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela, along with 15 private banks from the Andean region. With headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, CAF has representative offices in La Paz, Brasilia, Bogotá, Quito, Madrid and Lima.

Ashmore Group plc (“Ashmore”) is an active manager, specializing and oriented to creating value, with outstanding results in investments in global emerging markets since 1992. Ashmore specializes in five investment segments in emerging markets: external debt, local currency, special situations (private capital funds/distressed debt), publicly traded equity, and corporate high yield investment. Taking advantage of the experience accumulated in the special situation segment and based on its extensive network of local contacts, Ashmore continues to grow backed by outstanding results in various sectors, including public services, energy, telecommunications, infrastructure and real estate. Since 1998, the year of the launch of the first special situation vehicle, Ashmore has put through over 100 successful sales of companies, and today its portfolio of managed companies employs several thousand people.

Inverlink S.A. was founded in 1986, as the first Colombian Investment Bank. Since then it has been identified as the leading investment bank in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), project finance, privatizations and valuations in Colombia and the Andean region, with broad experience in the infrastructure sector.

Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc, subsidiary of Macquarie, is a provider of financial, investment and fund manager services at world level. With over 15 years' experience in infrastructure-related transactions, Macquarie specializes in assets that include electricity and generation services, roads, ports, railways, airports, water services, telecommunications, among others. The Group has over 110 infrastructure assets in 25 countries, including: Indiana Toll Road, Copenhagen Airport, and Thames Water.