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Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters working with Zachry American Infrastructure, member of Zachry Hastings Alliance

Dépèche transmise le 19 mars 2009 par Business Wire

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters working with Zachry American Infrastructure, member of Zachry Hastings Alliance

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters has become a senior adviser to Zachry American Infrastructure, Inc. (Zachry American), a leading U.S.-owned infrastructure developer/investor.

Peters will advise Zachry American and its partner Hastings Funds Management (USA) Inc. (Hastings USA) as the Zachry Hastings Alliance (ZHA) pursues and finances growth and development infrastructure projects in the transportation, energy, water, aviation and ports sectors. On behalf of ZHA, she will educate public entities on the merits of partnering with private-sector developers and investors.

Peters has long promoted public-private partnerships in the United States and advocates leveraging private investment to develop and improve infrastructure quicker and more efficiently than possible through traditional funding methods. During her 2006-2009 tenure as U.S. Secretary of Transportation in President George W. Bush’s administration, Peters improved the safety and performance of the U.S. transportation system by incorporating market-based solutions.

“Partnering with Zachry American and Hastings USA allows me to further the work I did as Secretary of Transportation, helping public entities realize value by partnering with the private sector to treat infrastructure as an asset rather than just issuing design-build and maintenance contracts,” Peters said. “Our nation is facing a serious infrastructure funding shortfall, and the Zachry Hastings Alliance model provides a way to blend American funds with American development expertise to improve and expand the infrastructure Americans depend on.”

The Zachry Hastings Alliance employs a value creation strategy that marries Zachry American’s development expertise with Hastings’ infrastructure management experience.

“Mary’s market-based philosophy is completely aligned with the mission of ZHA,” said Bob Heitmann, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Zachry American and co-leader of the Zachry Hastings Alliance. “The cost of public capital may be lower than the cost of privately sourced capital, but private developers and private equity create additional value that public dollars can’t, through risk transfer and whole-life-cycle cost management. Mary was an early advocate of this philosophy, so we’re glad to have her on board to help us educate public-sector project partners. When infrastructure is managed as an asset, everyone benefits – the public sector and the users of the infrastructure.”

Before serving in President Bush’s Cabinet, Peters was a senior vice president and national director for HDR, Inc.; the federal highway administrator for the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT); and director of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). As U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Peters’ responsibilities included U.S. aviation, maritime and surface and maritime policy and programs, including natural gas pipelines.

“Wind and solar power are becoming a larger portion of America’s energy portfolio,” said Pete Taylor, executive director of Hastings USA and co-leader of the Zachry Hastings Alliance, “so there is a growing need for natural gas peaking power plants to provide supplemental electricity when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. Mary’s expertise in federal natural gas pipeline policy will help ZHA partner with utilities and natural gas companies to develop the associated infrastructure to provide reliable electricity to Americans.”

About Zachry American

Zachry American Infrastructure, Inc. was formed in 2005 to develop infrastructure projects. Zachry American is an independent member of the Zachry group of companies, separate from other Zachry companies but with access to the experience, knowledge and relationships of its affiliates. Zachry businesses, which collectively form a privately owned construction, construction materials, engineering and development conglomerate, have been in operation for more than 80 years and provide a wide array of services to domestic and international companies and state and federal government agencies. Zachry businesses have been involved with more than 5,500 construction projects, including highways, bridges, dams, power generation facilities, chemical plants, major refinery expansions, air quality control upgrades, LNG regas terminals, cement plants, U.S. embassies and other specialty projects throughout the world.

About Zachry Hastings Alliance

Zachry American and Hastings USA established the Zachry Hastings Alliance (ZHA), to combine their complementary skills and experience to create value for public and private project partners. ZHA leverages its capabilities and experience – including market sector and portfolio research and analysis, project development, investment origination, due diligence, business planning, valuation, structuring and negotiating potential investments and asset management – to provide high-quality, sustainable infrastructure assets to the public.

About Hastings (USA)

Hastings Funds Management (USA) Inc. is a company incorporated in the state of Delaware in 2007. Hastings USA is wholly owned by Hastings Funds Management Limited (HFML) in Australia. HFML is one of Australia’s leading specialized fund managers of infrastructure, high yield debt and alternative assets. HFML currently manages approximately $5 billion in infrastructure assets under management.

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