Partners Group raises €500m infrastructure fund

Swiss investor Partners Group has closed its “largest dedicated infrastructure investment programme to date”, Partners Group Global Infrastructure 2009, the firm has announced.
 
The vehicle has closed on €500 million, hitting its hard cap, and has received commitments from public and private pension schemes, insurance companies, high-net-worth individuals, endowments and other financial institutions, Partners Group said.
 
The firm, which has $1 billion of infrastructure investments, targets the asset class via direct investments, secondary market acquisitions and primary investments in third-party infrastructure funds.
 
“In an environment of increased economic and financial uncertainty, investors are looking for assets with stable cash flows, inflation protection and significant cash yield, all quintessential characteristics of the infrastructure asset class,” commented Michael Barben, partner and head of private infrastructure at Partners Group.
 

Investors are looking for assets with stable cash flows, inflation protection and significant cash yield, all quintessential characteristics of the infrastructure asset class. Michael Barben

The new vehicle has already deployed capital to a portfolio of 17 investments as at the fourth quarter of 2010, Partners Group said. Some of the deals it has invested in include Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group, an Australian coal export terminal whose capacity is being increased to 53 million tons a year and a 71-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in Italy called Rovigo.
 
Partners Group Global Infrastructure 2009 has also acquired “a number of high quality secondary investments purchased at attractive discounts to their net asset values (NAVs)” and already has exposure to more than 12 countries, including the UK, Italy, Australia, India, the Netherlands, Brazil and France, among others. However, Partners Group stresses the fund is still at “an early stage of its investment phase”.
 
Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Partners Group has over €20 billion of funds under management in private equity, private debt, private real estate and private infrastructure. The firm, majority-owned by its partners and employees, is listed on the Swiss Exchange (SIX) and has a market capitalisation of CHF4.5 billion (€3.5 billion; $4.9 billion). It employs over 450 people across the globe.