3i Group plc (“3i”) announces that 3i European Operational Projects Fund (“3i EOPF” or “the Fund”) has acquired an 80% equity stake in La Seine Musicale from Infravia European Fund II.
La Seine Musicale is a 30-year French PPP benefiting mainly from availability-based revenues from the Hauts de Seine département, a strong public counterparty. The project comprises a multi-functional performance complex located on Seguin Island on the Seine river, downstream from central Paris. Its facilities include a 6,000 seat concert hall, a 1,150 seat auditorium, and one of the largest recording spaces in the Paris area, as well as venues for corporate events.
La Seine Musicale hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in December 2021 and will open its doors to Björk and Simple Minds in the spring. Starmania and Romeo and Juliet (ballet by Benjamin Millepied) are among the large-scale, public shows which will begin after the summer.
The site has been operational since 2017 and has attracted more than 1 million visitors to date. It is well located in the centre of a transportation hub offering direct access by road, metro, tram and bus, to which will be added a new footbridge due to open in 2022 and a metro station in 2025 as part of the Grand Paris Express.
La Seine Musicale’s concert hall is covered with more than 1,000m2 of photovoltaic panels. The panels pivot around the exterior following the path of the sun, providing shade for the interior and reducing energy consumption. The building was designed by a Pritzker Architecture Prize winner and won the MIPIM Best Futura Project award in 2015.
Stéphane Grandguillaume, Partner at 3i in charge of origination for the Fund, commented: “La Seine Musicale is a flagship in the French entertainment industry. As a relatively young asset it benefits from the latest energy efficiency and soundproofing technologies and its unique position on the Seine river makes it highly attractive. We look forward to building on its pre-eminent reputation.”
3i EOPF, which is managed by 3i’s infrastructure team, is a €456m fund investing in operational projects across Europe, with a focus on France, the Benelux, Germany, Italy and Iberia. It targets a wide range of sub-sectors, primarily social infrastructure and transportation, but also telecoms and utilities. It aims to provide long-term yield to institutional investors.
