Scotia Capital last week announced it has hired 10 bankers from Depfa PLC to start an U.S. and Latin America infrastructure advisory team as it seeks to capitalize on the region's growing infrastructure needs.
Conor Kelly - the former head of Depfa's Americas infrastructure group - will lead Scotia's team. Scotia Capital, a subsidiary of Scotiabank, entered the infrastructure market in July when it started a Canadian advisory group.
"Scotia Capital has built the Americas Infrastructure Advisory Group to tap into the significant growth prospects and global nature of this sector," Matt Giffen, Scotia managing director and head of infrastructure and global energy solutions, said in a statement.
The other members joining Scotia include: director João Augusto Carneiro; associate directors Kevin Healy, Antoine Reze, and Yann Megret; managing directors Maria Kang, Ruth McMorrow, and Michael Uhouse; and associates Benjamin Lennon and Jeffrey Mathews.
Members of the group have worked on a variety of public-private partnership projects, such as the leases of both the Indiana Toll Road and Chicago Skyway.
Along with pension and other post-retirement costs, the need to replace deteriorating roads, highways, and other types of U.S. infrastructure is expected to put a strain on municipal budgets in upcoming years. In a 2005 report, the American Society of Civil Engineers pegged the need for investment in infrastructure at $1.6 trillion over five years.
