Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

And at the asset level, it’s not only extremely manageable, but very comfortable what we have. So there’s nothing that we’re looking to deliver in any particular case. I think the other thing which we did flag in our is, even as interest rates go up, the inflation compounding within our business exceeds the amount of any increase in interest rates. So, from that perspective, we are always delevering just because the businesses are growing. So I think that leaves at that. [Indiscernible].

Robert Catellier: No. I think that covers it well. Okay, thanks for that. I just want to clarify something. In recent years, you’ve been talking about the value of your platform investments. And if I understand your comments correctly this morning, you said that in terms of monetizing assets, the sweet spot is more middle market — mid market rather than large scale. And given that you’re looking to pace your new investments for the recycling, can we expect more in the next year or so in terms of tuck-ins rather than large acquisitions in the current environment?

Sam Pollock: No. I wouldn’t say that. And I hope I didn’t give people the wrong impression. I think all we want to just flag was what was in the letter, namely that we’ve made lots of investments. There’s no there’s no pressure that we feel to deploy capital, we will be optimistic. And as our liquidity increases with capital recycling, we will be on the lookout for great opportunities, whether it’s buying our shares or making a big investment, we’ll continue to do that. The tuck-ins are things that I would say that is a constant thing we’re always doing. Those generally don’t require any capital, we can usually do them on our lines of credit and each of the businesses, those are just part of the regular business plans of creating value and will continue to do particularly in this market where we’re seeing good opportunities.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Frederic Bastien from Raymond James. Your question, please.

Frederic Bastien: Hey, good morning. Just wanted to close the loop on this latest Cyxtera investment, can you reconcile the total purchase price of 1.3 billion you highlighted in your head remarks and the $775 million has been quoted in press? And what is BIPs actual commitment to this 1.3 billion?

Sam Pollock: Yes. Sorry. The 1.3 includes all the purchases of the land leases, in addition to the 750 going to Cyxtera. So as I mentioned earlier, it’s really a multifaceted transaction with many, many different parties. Think of it as a true recapitalization of that business before we combine it with ours. And the funding is in place from a group of lenders to complete all the acquisitions, it’s not requiring any capital from us and closing is expected in the first quarter of 2024.

Frederic Bastien: Okay. Thanks for that color, Sam. Just couple more questions quickly. In prior periods of market volatility, we’ve seen you make toehold investments and depress public stocks. Obviously, you have been buying your own stock. But have you made such investment recently in other companies?

Sam Pollock: We can’t really comment too much on specifics. But we do periodically make investments in companies that that trade down and to monitor them. And it’s safe to say that at any given point in time, we probably have one or two that we’ve done that with, but I’d rather not comment more than that.

Frederic Bastien: Okay, fair enough. Lastly, where do you see the best opportunities for organic and inorganic growth in the midstream segment right now? A – Sam Pollock Sorry. Say it, again, Fred. The question was, where do we see —

Frederic Bastien: The best opportunities for growth in midstream whether it’s organic or inorganic?

Sam Pollock: Okay. Yes, I’d say most of what we’re focused on in the midstream sector is on the organic side, maybe Ben, you want to touch upon a little bit of what we’re doing in IPL and North River in relation to some of the customer-related projects.