L&G kicks off U.S. infrastructure push with university deal

LONDON (Reuters) - British insurer Legal & General has agreed its first infrastructure deal in the United States, investing around $100 million (£76.81 million) to help the University of California, Merced, expand its campus. The deal is part of a roughly $660 million financing package that will see the campus more than double in size to accommodate 10,000 students and allow the university to grow its research and teaching programmes, Legal & General said in a statement. The 38-year financing - in what L&G said is the first-ever public-private partnership in the U.S. educational sector - is part of its strategy to target real asset deals that can help it meet its long-term pension liabilities. "We ... continue to target transactions backed by economic and social infrastructure as part of Legal & General’s wider approach to real asset investments," said Charles-Henry Lecointe, senior infrastructure investment manager at Legal & General Investment Management Real Assets. (This version of the story was filed as company corrected statement to make clear the $100 million L&G financing is part of a $660 million package, not a $760 million package) (Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Jon Boyle)