从各季度#博枫基建股东信# 中摘抄一些时效性不高的文字。使用有道机器翻译。$Brookfield基础设施(BIP)$
【Data Infrastructure Initiatives 数据基础设施计划】
Over the past year we have highlighted the data infrastructure segment as an area of growth for Brookfield Infrastructure. The sector continues to offer interesting investment opportunities given the large amounts of capital that need to be deployed in the space.
在过去的一年里，我们一直强调数据基础设施部门是$Brookfield基础设施(BIP)$ 的增长领域。考虑到需要在该领域部署大量资金，该部门继续提供有趣的投资机会。
Data has been one of the fastest growing commodities in the world. We expect this rapid growth to persist for the foreseeable future, driven by several factors including greater smartphone penetration, increasing video consumption, the advent of 5G networks and new and evolving uses, such as the internet of things, artificial intelligence and other applications that depend on low latency. We have identified this exponential growth in data usage worldwide as a significant opportunity, particularly with the large-scale infrastructure investments that will be required to support data transportation and storage.
数据一直是世界上增长最快的商品之一。我们预计，在可预见的未来，这种快速增长将持续下去，原因包括智能手机普及率提高、视频消费增加、5G网络的出现以及物联网、人工智能和其他依赖低延迟的应用等新的和不断发展的用途。我们已经将全球数据使用的指数级增长视为一个重大机遇，特别是随着支持数据传输和存储所需的大规模基础设施投资的增加。
As we position our business to take advantage of this secular trend, we have decided to focus on the following investment areas – wireless infrastructure (i.e. telecom towers), fiber networks, data centers and integrated data operations. Our belief is that as people, places and objects become increasingly more interconnected, the importance and value of data infrastructure assets will continue to rise.
由于我们的业务定位是要利用这一长期趋势，我们决定将重点放在以下投资领域: 无线基础设施(即电信塔)、光纤网络、数据中心和综合数据运营。我们相信，随着人、地点和物体之间的联系越来越紧密，数据基础设施资产的重要性和价值将继续上升。
Given the ongoing evolution and innovation taking place in the telecom sector, we are seeking to detach these assets from their corporate owners and focus on contractual arrangements that hold attractive infrastructure characteristics and bear limited technology and obsolescence risks.
鉴于电信部门正在进行的发展和创新，我们正寻求将这些资产从其公司所有者中分离出来，并专注于具有吸引力的基础设施特征、承担有限技术和过时风险的合同安排。
Over the last few years, we have made several investments to grow and expand our data infrastructure business and today we are invested across several of the segments.
在过去的几年里，我们进行了几项投资，以增长和扩大我们的数据基础设施业务，今天我们在多个领域进行了投资。
Wireless infrastructure – In 2015, we acquired a leading independent broadcast and telecom tower operator in France with over 7,000 towers and active rooftop sites. Growth in this business is driven by the requirement for mobile network operators to increase their site coverage to meet spectrum license obligations and improve network capacity to support higher data speeds and usage.
无线基础设施—— 2015年，我们收购了法国领先的独立广播和电信塔运营商，拥有7000多座铁塔和活跃的屋顶站点。移动网络运营商需要增加其站点覆盖率，以满足频谱许可证的义务，并提高网络容量，以支持更高的数据速度和使用，这一需求推动了该业务的增长。
We believe investments in wireless infrastructure are attractive as these are long-life assets, which benefit from natural barriers to entry due to location scarcity and challenging permitting environments. In addition, customers are willing to enter into long-term contracts (up to 20 years), with embedded indexation to secure capacity given how critical these assets are to their wireless offering.
我们相信对无线基础设施的投资是有吸引力的，因为这些是长寿命资产，受益于由于位置稀缺和具有挑战性的审批许可环境造成的自然进入壁垒。此外，考虑到这些资产对无线服务的重要性，客户愿意签订长期并且与通胀指数挂钩的合同(最长可达20年)，来确保容量。
Fiber networks – Our investments in fiber networks to date have been through our existing portfolio companies. Our U.K. regulated distribution business is deploying fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks to new housing developments as part of its multi-utility offering in response to customer demand for faster and more reliable broadband solutions. Meanwhile, our French telecommunications infrastructure business is rolling out four FTTH networks to connect over 700,000 households in the next few years as part of the French government’s national broadband plan.
光纤网络—— 迄今为止，我们在光纤网络方面的投资都是通过现有的投资组合公司进行的。我们受英国监管的分销业务正在将光纤到家(FTTH)网络部署到新的住宅开发项目中，作为其多用途服务的一部分，以响应客户对更快、更可靠的宽带解决方案的需求。
与此同时，作为法国政府国家宽带计划的一部分，我们的法国电信基础设施业务正在推出4个FTTH网络，在未来几年连接超过70万户家庭。
Residential fiber networks offer utility-like characteristics due to the significant cost to build-out a dense network, which in-turn limits the risk of replication. Furthermore, like traditional utilities, broadband is becoming a basic household need, as societal demand for reliable connectivity increases.
由于构建密集网络的巨大成本，住宅光纤网络提供了类似公用事业的特性，这反过来又限制了被复制的风险。此外，与传统公用事业一样，随着社会对可靠连接的需求增加，宽带正成为家庭的基本需求。
We are also reviewing opportunities to acquire fiber networks specializing in enterprise services. We are looking for businesses with dense fiber networks, which provide a combination of dark and lit fiber offerings. The dark fiber offering provides a solid base with strong downside protection, due to the long-term, take-or-pay nature of the contracts, while lit fiber allows us to participate in demand for more data at higher broadband speeds. We believe having highly dense fiber networks provides us with substantial optionality as the world becomes increasingly interconnected.
我们也在考虑收购专门从事企业服务的光纤网络的机会。我们正在寻找拥有密集光纤网络的企业，提供明和暗光纤产品的组合。由于照付不议合同的长期性质，暗光纤产品提供了一个坚实的基础，具有强大的下行保护，而明光纤使我们能够在更高的宽带速度下参与到对更多数据的需求中。我们相信，拥有高度密集的光纤网络为我们提供了大量的选择，因为世界变得越来越互联。
Data centers – We have been most active with data centers over the last year, having acquired businesses on three continents. Our focus is on the retail colocation and wholesale data center models, with the key differentiator between the two being the amount of computing power required by our customers.
数据中心—— 去年，我们在数据中心方面最为活跃，收购了在三大洲的业务。我们的重点是零售托管和批发数据中心模型，这两者之间的关键区别是我们的客户所需的计算能力。
In our U.S. retail colocation business, we are improving the operations following the carve-out from AT&T by (i) assembling an experienced management team and dedicated sales function and (ii) repositioning the platform to become carrier neutral. Furthermore, with our global footprint, we believe there will be opportunities to enhance the portfolio by making tuck-in acquisitions to strengthen our presence in existing markets or enter new regions.
在我们的美国零售托管业务中，我们正通过(i) 组建一支经验丰富的管理团队和专门的销售功能，以及(ii) 重新定位平台，使其成为中立的运营商，来改善从AT&T剥离出来后的运营。
此外，随着我们在全球的足迹，我们相信将有机会通过合并收购来加强我们在现有市场或进入新地区的存在，从而增强我们的投资组合。
In retail colocation, customer contracts are typically three to five years, with strong renewal rates, due to high customer switching costs. Customer stickiness is further enhanced through a platform effect as our customers are often in multiple sites or locations, which increases the complexity of switching given their network architecture.
在零售托管中，客户合同通常为3到5年，由于客户转换成本高，续签率高。客户粘性通过平台效应进一步增强，因为我们的客户经常在多个机房或地点，鉴于他们的网络架构这增加了交换的复杂性。
Meanwhile, our wholesale platforms in South America and Asia Pacific are in regions where cloud computing is at an earlier stage of adoption. This should allow us to deploy additional capital on an accretive basis to build new data centers for large technology companies expanding their presence in the regions. The build-out of new sites is supported by anchor tenants entering into long-term, take-or-pay contracts (up to 10 years), which will allow us to achieve attractive, risk-adjusted returns within the initial contract term and significantly de-risk the investment.
与此同时，我们在南美和亚太地区的批发平台所处的地区，云计算还处于采用的早期阶段。这将允许我们在增值的基础上部署额外的资本，为在这些地区扩大业务的大型技术公司建立新的数据中心。
新场地的扩建是由主力租户签订的长期照付不议合同(最长10年)支持的，这将使我们在初始合同期内获得具有吸引力的、经风险调整的回报，并显著降低投资风险。
Integrated data/communications operations – A potential area of opportunity for us is the acquisition of “asset heavy” integrated telecom operators. As the name implies, these are businesses that provide utility-like broadband and wireless services to customers through owner-operated tower and fiber networks. As we review potential opportunities, we have defined a list of key characteristics we are looking for:
综合数据/通信业务—— 对我们来说，一个潜在的机会领域是收购“重资产”综合电信运营商。顾名思义，这些企业通过业主运营的通信铁塔和光纤网络向客户提供类公用事业的宽带和无线服务。
当我们评估潜在的机会时，我们已经确定了我们正在寻找的关键特征列表:
– Leading fixed (and wireless) player with a presence in a single market, region or country;
-在单一市场、地区或国家拥有领先的固定(和无线)运营商;
– Ownership of high-quality data infrastructure assets with high replacement cost;
-拥有高质量、高重置成本的数据基础设施资产;
– Markets which have demonstrated a stable operating and regulatory environment; and
-表现出稳定的经营和监管环境的市场;而且
– Favorable competitive dynamics which facilitate underwriting of long-term market share assumptions.
-有利的竞争动态，有利于设想长期市场份额的假设。
These businesses will have customer-facing activities similar to our distribution companies. For asset heavy operators, these activities represent a small fraction of the margin generated in the overall business. For certain large-scale businesses, an opportunity exists to consider separating underlying network infrastructure from the service business. However, this would need to be assessed in the context of the existing market structure.
这些企业将有与我们的分销公司类似的面向客户的活动。对于重资产运营商来说，这些业务只占整个业务产生的利润的一小部分。对于某些大型业务，可以考虑将底层网络基础设施从服务业务中分离出来。但是，这需要在现有市场结构的范围内进行评估。
In general, we believe that managing and retaining the customer relationship is important, as it provides increased flexibility to tailor the network to meet customers’ requirements and increases customer stickiness by bundling multiple services. If the retail component has sufficient scale and credit quality, then a separation might make sense.
总的来说，我们认为管理和保持客户关系是重要的，因为它提供了更大的灵活性来调整网络以满足客户的需求，并通过捆绑多个服务来增加客户粘性。如果零售部分有足够的规模和信贷质量，那么分离可能是有意义的。
【Spotlight on Value Creation 聚焦价值创造】
Our investment strategy consists of three core components: (i) we buy high-quality infrastructure assets at attractive entry points, (ii) we employ an active asset management approach and (iii) we monetize assets at their full value potential and start over again by investing into higher returning opportunities.
我们的投资策略包括三个核心部分:
(i) 我们在有吸引力的切入点购买高质量的基础设施资产，
(ii) 采用积极的资产管理方法，
(iii) 将资产的全部价值潜力变现，并通过投资高回报机会重新开始。
Our deep operating expertise is central to the second component of our strategy. During each year of ownership, but particularly in the early years after we acquire a business, we identify and implement initiatives that increase the value of our businesses. Value is created through various means, including margin improvements, revenue growth, as well as capital structure optimization. Since the acquisition of Enercare in late 2018, we have been focused on several initiatives that highlight our active approach to asset management.
我们深厚的运营专业知识是我们战略的第二个组成部分的核心。在每一年的持有期间，特别是在我们收购企业后的最初几年，我们确定并实施增加企业价值的计划。
创造价值的方式多种多样，包括提高利润率、增加收入以及优化资本结构。自2018年底收购Enercare以来，我们一直专注于几个项目，突出了我们积极的资产管理方法。
Enercare is a leading provider of essential residential energy infrastructure such as water heaters, furnaces, air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems and other in-home services. The business operates in a sector and region that we understand well and this business shares a number of similar features with our U.K. regulated distribution business.
Enercare是重要的住宅能源基础设施的领先供应商，如热水器，火炉，空调(“HVAC”)系统和其他家庭服务。该业务在我们非常了解的部门和地区运营，该业务与我们在英国受监管的分销业务有许多相似的特点。
We were attracted to the high-quality annuity-like cashflows, established market position in Canada and significant growth potential in the U.S. Since acquisition, the business has been performing well and we have been focused on two key value creation levers: (i) capital structure optimization and (ii) sales growth in the U.S. market.
我们被高质量的类似于年金的现金流、在加拿大已确立的市场地位和在美国的显著增长潜力所吸引。
自收购以来，业务一直表现良好，我们一直专注于两个关键的价值创造杠杆:(i) 资本结构优化和 (ii)美国市场的销售增长。
Since we acquired the business, it was our belief that Enercare’s capital structure was not optimal given the contracted cash flow profile of the business. Enercare has over one million long-term rental contracts with low rates of attrition, consistent real price growth, and high renewal rates. We examined available financing structures and ultimately concluded that Enercare’s Canadian rental business was uniquely positioned for a securitization financing.
自从我们收购了该业务以来，我们认为Enercare的资本结构并不是最优的，因为该业务的合同现金流状况。Enercare拥有超过100万份长期租赁合同，流失率低，实际价格持续增长，续约率高。我们研究了可用的融资结构，最终得出结论，Enercare的加拿大租赁业务具有独特的证券化融资定位。
In December, we recapitalized the business through the issuance of approximately C$2 billion of primarily AAA-rated securitized debt. This is a marquee financing, as it is the first of its kind for this type of business in the Canadian market. The proceeds were used, in part, to redeem C$1.4 billion of public bonds, and we achieved an overall reduction in the cost of debt by 50 basis points while also substantially improving the credit rating of the assets (from BBB low to primarily AAA). The securitization facility also provides a mechanism to efficiently fund organic growth and future tuck-in acquisitions, thereby reducing the need to inject capital to fund growth. This financing was very accretive to our underwriting and improves the competitiveness of the business.
去年12月，我们通过发行约20亿加元的主要为AAA级的证券化债务，对业务进行了资本重组。这是一次引人注目的融资，因为这是加拿大市场上此类业务的首次融资。这笔收益部分用于赎回14亿加元的公共债券，我们实现了债务成本的总体降低50个基点，同时也大幅提高了资产的信用评级(从BBB低到主要为AAA)。
证券化工具还提供了一种有效为有机增长和未来的并购提供资金的机制，从而减少了为增长注入资金的需要。这种融资对我们的承销非常有利，提高了业务的竞争力。
To facilitate rental growth in the U.S., we are focused on implementing a dealer adoption model that will complement the tuck-in acquisition and “sales to rental” conversion strategies currently underway. While rental conversion rates are well ahead of plan, reaching over 40% in the fourth quarter, we believe we can accelerate growth by offering a partnership model to HVAC dealers in markets where we do not have a presence.
为了促进美国租赁业务的增长，我们专注于实施一种经销商采用模式，这将补充目前正在进行的“收纳式收购”和“销售到租赁”转换战略。虽然租金转换率远超计划，在第四季度达到了40%以上，但我们相信，通过向我们尚未进入的市场的暖通空调经销商提供合作模式，我们可以加速增长。
In addition, we have various initiatives underway with Brookfield-managed businesses to further enhance growth. Earlier this year, we launched a pilot program with a utility in Texas to offer residential infrastructure products to a large subset of the utility’s clients. The pilot has been well received and we are working on the long-term rollout of the program. Enercare also recently partnered with our Canadian district energy business to participate in a housing development project, representing an opportunity to offer services to a community-scale district energy system.
此外，我们与博枫管理的企业正在进行各种计划，以进一步促进增长。今年早些时候，我们与德克萨斯州的一家公用事业公司启动了一个试点项目，向该公用事业公司的大量客户提供住宅基础设施产品。该试点受到了好评，我们正致力于该项目的长期推广。Enercare最近还与我们的加拿大地区能源业务合作，参与了一个住房开发项目，代表了一个为社区规模的地区能源系统提供服务的机会。
With the Canadian securitization complete and additional growth strategies underway (that will be financed in a much more accretive manner), we are well-positioned to expect equity returns in the high teens and potentially higher, exceeding our conservative base case underwriting for this business.
随着加拿大证券化的完成和额外的增长战略正在进行中(将以更增值的方式融资)，我们已经做好准备，预计股权回报率将达到高双位数，甚至可能更高，超过我们对该业务设想的保守基础情景。