RREEF raises €2bn for European infrastructure

The alternative investment asset manager for Deutsche Bank is seeking out established infrastructure assets for its maiden European infrastructure fund.

RREEF Infrastructure, part of RREEF Alternative Investments, the global alternative investment management business of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division, has held the final close of its Pan-European Infrastructure Fund with total commitments in excess of €2 billion ($2.7 billion).

The fund is targeting mainly mature assets and has attracted 40 investors, a quarter of which are from European countries, according to a statement. The fund held a first close on €556 million in the middle of last year.

The first closing took place last August and since then the fund has invested in a 49.9 percent stake in privately owned group British company Peel Ports and a 48.6 percent stake in German motorway service operator Tank & Rast. It has also invested in a project to design, build, finance and operate the first section of the Vienna Northeastern bypass in Austria.

As well as its Euroepan investments, the firm has been actively purchasing infrastructure assets around the world. Earlier this year, it purchased Maher Terminals, a privately-held operator of port terminal facilities in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

The fund is marginally smaller than the $3-billion vehicle operated by Alinda Capital, which closed in June and will focus on investments in North America and Europe. Last year Macquarie Bank and Credit Agricole both closed funds focused on the continent, while Goldman Sachs closed a fund investing globally.

GIMV, Belgium’s largest private equity firm, and Dexia Bank added to those seeking to invest in infrastructure when it launched a €100-million fund earlier in the year.