Structure and Capital Market Tool
Bayfront Infrastructure Management addresses this gap by pooling project and infrastructure loans and bonds and securitising them into infrastructure asset-backed securities (IABS) listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
In September 2023, the UK government's MOBILIST programme made an anchor investment in an infrastructure asset-backed securitisation transaction expected to catalyse over USD 410 million of institutional investment in strategic infrastructure projects across Asia. MOBILIST invested in preferred shares in Bayfront Infrastructure Capital IV Pte. Ltd. (BIC IV). The transaction involved the securitisation of a portfolio of project and infrastructure loans and bonds into IABS, to be listed on the SGX.
Background and Market Context
The Asia Pacific region faces a substantial infrastructure financing gap that public and bank balance sheets alone cannot close. Bank lending, constrained by capital requirements on long-tenor exposures, has traditionally dominated project and infrastructure finance in the region, leaving institutional investors, who hold the deepest pools of long-term capital, largely on the sidelines for want of a suitable, tradable instrument.
Development Impact
By converting illiquid, bank-originated infrastructure loans into a listed, rated and tradable security, the transaction opens infrastructure debt to institutional investors who could not otherwise access it, mobilising private capital at scale. In this demand-side example, MOBILIST's participation in the equity (first-loss) layer de-risks the structure for senior investors. The repeat issuance of successive Bayfront vehicles signals the emergence of a durable and replicable asset class rather than a one-off deal, deepening Singapore's role as a hub through which regional infrastructure debt reaches global institutional portfolios.