Cezary Podkul

With announced deal volumes totalling $3bn in the first eight months of the year, infrastructure and real estate are proving to be resilient investment targets in a year that has seen Indian private equity deal value drop by 20% through September.

The Spanish construction company will finance, design and build additions to Florida's I-595 corridor in the next five years and then operate and maintain it for an additional 30 years. Florida will control the rates and collect tolls.

George Bilicic, who joined KKR in May, will rejoin Lazard as chairman of its power, utilities and infrastructure practice. A source said Bilicic was leaving the firm over differences about how KKR should build its infrastructure team.

Citing deteriorating economic and financial market conditions and increasing cost of capital, Canadian pension’s infrastructure investment unit has lowered its bid for the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed income fund by about C$116m.

Aimed at becoming one of the largest owners and operators of cattle and sheep farms in the world, the fund is close to reaching its goal of raising between A$1bn to A$1.3bn, says fund director Tim Hornibrook.

The city will look to invest in domestic infrastructure funds after making an initial investment in the asset class earlier this year and taking a beating in its US equity allocation.

Blackstone infrastructure co-head Trent Vichie and Chris Leslie, CEO of Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, say only a fraction of what's needed for infrastructure investment worlwide has been raised by private funds. Meanwhile CVC’s infrastructure chief, Stephen Vineburg, also speaking at PEI’s Infrastructure Forum in New York, said infrastructure investing has reached a third stage in development.

Some US officials are pushing for the introduction of public private partnerships to create permanent funding sources for transportation projects. California, New Mexico and Texas are among the states that say they need private funds.

The world's largest owner of infrastructure assets will now raise third-party capital to back infrastructure GPs around the globe.

Market conditions worldwide are darkening, but the infrastructure asset class will likely be among the first to see the sun, writes Cezary Podkul.