The Australian investment company Babcock & Brown has announced plans to set up a £300m PFI fund.

Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships (BBPP) will have its own independent board and an initial portfolio of 22 PFI projects in the UK. It will also be the first Babcock & Brown fund to be listed outside Australia. The firm is leading the consortium refurbishing 47 primary and secondary schools in Northampton, as part of a Northamptonshire CC  PFI project. ‘This will be the first of Babcock & Brown's funds to list in Europe,' said director Giles Frost. ‘Public and social infrastructure is increasingly recognised as a separate investment class, with new opportunities now appearing in many developed countries.