AVAIO Capital and Sydney Harbour Investment Partners Announce a Partnership to Develop and Finance the Novaporte Mega-Terminal Project in Sydney Harbour, Nova Scotia

NEW YORK, May 15, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Novaporte Project entails the construction of a deep-water, multi-use port on 500 acres within the Port of Sydney. Projected to deliver up to 3,200,000 TEU of container capacity and vehicle roll-on/roll-off ("RoRo") capabilities over three phases of construction, Novaporte will be purpose built for highly efficient operations and capable of handling the ultra-large container vessels of the future.

The Project has the major components for a successful development in place, including a 99-year land lease option with the Sydney Port Authority, long-lead time environmental approvals, Canadian Foreign Trade Zone designation, and ready access to nearby rail infrastructure connecting the site to the rest of Canada and the United States.

"We are excited to partner with SHIP on the development of Novaporte," said Mark McComiskey, a Partner at AVAIO Capital. "Of all the port opportunities in the region, Novaporte is the best positioned due to its ice-free harbour, close proximity to an existing railroad, and strong support from local government and stakeholders."

Novaporte CEO Albert Barbusci said, "AVAIO Capital's financial and development investment expertise materially strengthens the Novaporte Project's position and will enable us to advance the pre-construction activities required to put the port into construction. This is a significant milestone that enhances our ability to make the development viable for all parties involved."

About Novaporte

Novaporte will be the first deep-water port on the east coast of North America to be designed specifically to accommodate the largest container ships in the world, (18,000 plus TEUs). The project is shovel-ready, with all major permits in place. Novaporte will be directly linked to major North American markets via rail and highway and will operate within an officially designated Canadian Foreign Trade Zone.

About AVAIO Capital

AVAIO is a build-to-core infrastructure fund led by a seasoned team of professionals with more than 150 years of infrastructure experience, drawing on investment, development, engineering and construction, and operating backgrounds. In aggregate, the team has completed more than $4 billion of equity transactions and over $50 billion of infrastructure development and construction projects across the water, transportation, digital and energy sectors. The team began in 2016 as members of AECOM Capital's private infrastructure team and successfully spun out in early 2019, retaining a strategic relationship with AECOM.

AVAIO has a clearly defined focus on real asset creation and redevelopment opportunities and takes a disciplined approach in seeking to create societally necessary assets with a positive impact to surrounding communities and the environment. Our goal is to make equity commitments to the creation or redevelopment of integral infrastructure assets throughout North America and Europe. We focus on mid-stage and late-stage projects where we believe we can bring both capital and expertise and, importantly, where projects can be put into construction within two years or less.

About SHIP

SHIP, formerly known as Harbour Port Development Partners, was established specifically to develop and market Novaporte, the Port of Sydney's new deep-water container terminal and adjacent logistics park, Novazone. Since inception, SHIP has worked to assemble a global consortium of marine and financial service partners to develop this project.

SOURCE AVAIO Capital