Brookfield Infrastructure Corp (BIPC)

Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation was established on August 30, 2019 by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners as an alternative vehicle for investors who prefer to own infrastructure operations through a corporate structure. It became a separately traded public company in March 2020 after a special distribution of exchangeable shares. The company owns and operates long-life infrastructure assets that generate stable, largely regulated or contracted cash flows with relatively low maintenance capital needs. Its exchangeable shares are designed to be economically equivalent to the partnership's units, and the company intends to pursue acquisitions in other sectors with similar attributes, based on opportunities allocated by Brookfield.

As of December 31, 2022, operations are in the utilities segment and consist of three businesses. In Brazil, a regulated natural gas transmission operation runs about 2,000 kilometers of pipelines in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, with 158 million cubic meters of capacity fully contracted under long-term, inflation-adjusted ship-or-pay agreements averaging 7 years of remaining life, under perpetual authorizations. In the U.K., a regulated distribution operation is an independent "last-mile" multi-utility connection provider with about 4.3 million gas and electricity connections. It competes across seven product lines: gas, electricity, fiber, water, wastewater, district heating and cooling. In Australia, the company holds an approximately 8% non-controlling interest in AusNet Services, a regulated utility in Victoria. It has about 7,000 kilometers of electricity transmission lines and 53,000 kilometers of distribution lines, plus a regulated gas distribution business that makes up about 10% of its revenues. Through the exchange feature, shareholders also gain exposure to the partnership's transport, midstream and data segments across eight markets.

U.K. customers are primarily large energy retailers serving residential and commercial users, and the operation leads in new gas and electricity connections for new-build housing across England, Scotland and Wales. The Brazilian pipelines supply a region that accounts for about 50% of Brazil's gas demand. The Australian electricity network supplies about 6.6 million people through transmission and about 800,000 customers through distribution, and its gas network serves about 780,000 customers. Revenues are supported by regulatory frameworks, including ANP in Brazil, the Australian Energy Regulator, and the U.K. regulator, or by long-term contracts. Growth is expected from rate base expansion, new-build housing, new U.K. product lines, Brazil's new entry-exit gas model, and Victoria's decarbonization targets.

The company is an indirect subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, with Brookfield as its ultimate parent, and is externally managed by Brookfield subsidiaries under a Master Services Agreement. It employs no management personnel itself, though its operating subsidiaries employ about 2,300 people in the U.K. and Brazil. It uses the Brookfield name under a non-exclusive, royalty-free license. The group targets total returns of 12% to 15% annually. The exchangeable shares trade on the NYSE and TSX under "BIPC", and the registered head office is at 250 Vesey Street, New York.