Antin Infrastructure Partners yesterday announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Roadchef.

Roadchef is one of the three major operators of Motorway Service Areas (MSAs) in the UK with 28 sites serving 44 million visitors each year.

MSAs are the only permitted and signposted commercial presence on motorways. Over 80% of visits are driven by the satisfaction of essential needs. Roadchef generates revenues by "converting" two-thirds of its visitors into customers of its food & beverage, retail, fuel and other commercial offers. The introduction of popular brands has increased the number of visitors and conversion rates over the past few years.

Following bilateral and exclusive negotiations, Delek Group has agreed to sell its 100% interest in Roadchef. This transaction joins a series of successful asset realisations by Delek which are helping to accelerate the company's strategic plan to focus operations on exploration and production of oil and gas.

International law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) advised Delek Group on the deal.

"We had long identified UK MSAs as a target sector due to the essential nature of the services they provide and their geographically diverse strategic locations. These infrastructure characteristics together with a proven resilient financial performance throughout the economic downturn make Roadchef an attractive investment opportunity for our fund".

"We are delighted to have acquired Roadchef, a business where we have identified significant value creation opportunities. We are looking forward to working closely with its experienced management team in growing the business and creating value for all stakeholders".

In June 2014, Antin completed fundraising for its second fund, Antin Infrastructure Partners II. The fundraising process was completed in less than a year and significantly exceeded its initial target of €1.5 billion, reaching €2 billion.

The fund comprises over 60 investors, with both new and returning limited partners from Fund I. Investors include leading institutions from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia and comprise pension funds, insurers, asset managers and sovereign wealth funds. The fund will follow the same investment strategy as Antin IP's first fund.