Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat, I would like your opinion on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP.UN). Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, $55.27, symbol BIP.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 267.6 million; Market cap: $21.8 billion; www.brookfieldinfrastructure.com), owns and operates utilities, transport and energy assets in North and South America, the Asia Pacific region and Europe. These holdings include power lines, railroads, ports, toll roads, data centres and energy storage facilities. In December 2018, Brookfield acquired from AT&T a portfolio of data centres in several major markets for $160 million. In January 2019, the company partnered with a group to buy an Asian Pacific data centre business for $180 million (Brookfield’s share was $50 million). Data centres are computing and networking equipment hubs involved in the collection, storage, processing and distribution of amounts of data. Brookfield’s Asia Pacific operations consist of two Australian data centres that provide services to customers under long-term contracts. The company aims to use this operation to grow into the greater Asian market, which lags behind North America in cloud computing (using the Internet to…