MPT had a challenging year in 2009 but the Fund is well positioned in 2010 to advance its growth strategy and other priorities, President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Bernstein told fellow investors at MPT's annual general meeting on June 29, 2010 at One King West Hotel.

With a relatively conservative capital structure and strong cash resources, MPT has access to approximately $120 million in capital available for growth following the acquisition of the Amherstburg Solar Park, announced on June 23rd.

Michael Smerdon, Chief Financial Officer, outlined the Fund's growth strategy, which includes: a focus on regulated or contractually defined core infrastructure businesses; an emphasis on operating assets with the flexibility to pursue select development projects; a preference for wholly-owned businesses with a willingness to consider a minority position where the appropriate governance exists; and a focus on Canada but with the scope to consider international opportunities in OECD countries.

Importantly, the Fund's mandate is to be a diversified infrastructure company.

"While our portfolio currently consists of power assets, we believe that diversifying across the core infrastructure spectrum will lead to more and better opportunities," said Mr. Smerdon. "That includes categories where there is less competition than we are currently seeing in the power arena."

The Amherstburg Solar Park is just one of several prospective transactions examined by the MPT team over the past year.

"We have looked at 63 opportunities for MPT in the past year, most of which have been in the last six months. We actively evaluated nearly 40 of these deals, located in Canada, the United States and internationally and including hydro, wind, solar, gas cogeneration, biomass and geothermal power generation facilities as well as an airport, toll roads and public-private partnership (P3) projects," Mr. Smerdon told the audience. "Twenty-three of these opportunities advanced to our shortlist, and now that we've closed the Amherstburg Solar Park transaction, we are continuing to pursue 13. So while we are active, we are being extremely disciplined."

MPT's focus on core infrastructure creates a distinct opportunity for investors who are looking to diversify their portfolios, said Mr. Bernstein.

"Infrastructure businesses typically offer long-term cash flow, a low risk of capital loss and an attractive, risk-adjusted rate of return," he said. "That makes infrastructure a traditionally defensive sector with little correlation to what's happening in the broader market. MPT provides individual and institutional investors with a way to participate in this unique asset class."

MPT expects to build on the success of the Amherstburg Solar Park acquisition in 2010 and beyond, said Mr. Bernstein.

"With the number of deals we are currently looking at, I expect that MPT's value and market capitalization will grow significantly over the next 12 to 24 months."

To listen to the 2010 annual general meeting presentation, visit our website.

Did you know?

MPT expects its distribution level of 66 cents per unit per year to be sustainable through 2014 based on the Fund's current portfolio.

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