Antin Infrastructure Partners has shortlisted infrastructure investors and utilities for the second round of the tightly fought auction of Portuguese water concession operator Indaqua, said several sources familiar with the matter.

Igneo Infrastructure Partners and Philippines-based utility Manila Water are two of the top bidders that have advanced into the final bidding phase, according to some of the sources.

Canadian pension fund British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and London-based Basalt Infrastructure Partners were also shortlisted to compete in the second round, some of the sources added.

Another industrial investor is also progressing into the final stage, added two sources, without naming the company.

The top offers received by Antin were in the EUR 1.35bn range, according to two sources, representing a multiple of around 18x the company’s EUR 75m EBITDA.

The French infrastructure fund manager, which is advised by Citi and Societe Generale, is expected to take binding bids towards the end of June for the company, added one source.

Indaqua is Portugal’s largest private operator of water and wastewater concessions, serving more than 800,000 people across the country. It also has large operations in Angola, for a total of 1.5m customers.

For Manila Water, which is advised by UBS, Indaqua is the latest target as part of a broader global expansion push, after its entry into Mexico last year and in Saudi Arabia in 2020. The company, which is controlled by Philippines billionaire Enrique Razon, serves six million people in its home market.

Igneo, which is working with Nomura, has experience in the European water sector having invested in Anglian Water, a company that serves 2.6m homes in the UK. BCI, which is advised by RBC, was an investor in beleaguered UK water utility Thames Water.

Basalt has invested in companies with operations including industrial water treatment and domestic water treatment leasing, but not in large-scale water and wastewater utilities to date.

Indaqua’s long-term concessions attracted interest from a large number of infrastructure investors in the first round of the auction, due to a scarcity of appealing core water assets in Europe.

Some have also been drawn by the prospect of further expanding the company’s operations abroad to generate higher returns, particularly after it entered Spain in 2023.

A consortium of APG and Interogo and a tie-up of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Portuguese investor Horizon Equity Partners were also among bidders involved in the first round of the auction, which kicked off in March.

Vauban Infrastructure Partners and KKR Infrastructure also took advisors to take part in the auction, while Italy’s Acea and Spain’s Aqualia were among strategic investors that circled the deal.

Antin, Igneo, Basalt and BCI declined to comment. Manila Water did not respond to requests for comment.

[Editor’s note: The last paragraph has been updated post-publication to note that BCI declined to comment.]