First look
Swiss Life AM targets €2.5bn for fourth mid-market fund
LP consultant Verus recently classed strategies targeting the mid-market as “our highest conviction” in the asset class. They would probably warm up to Swiss Life Asset Managers’ fourth infrastructure offering then, a core/core-plus vehicle targeting €2.5 billion to invest in… you guessed it, mid-market infrastructure.
“Our flexible mid-market investment mandate allows us to seamlessly pivot across sectors and geographies and to efficiently deploy capital and deliver expected returns,” commented Gabriele Damiani, head of core infrastructure at Swiss Life AM.
The Article 8 fund under the EU’s SFDR framework is targeting a first close in the first quarter of 2025. It aims to take control of positions in transportation, renewable energy, utilities, and digital infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe and North America, though it can invest in other OECD markets.
The offering is the latest addition to Swiss Life AM’s infrastructure equity platform, and follows on from the €2.2 billion Fund III, closed in 2022. Established in 2011, the infrastructure equity unit manages over €10 billion of AUM and has made 75 investments across its target sectors.
That looks set to expand significantly.
Brazilian LPs dance to Perfin tune
In January, The Pipeline brought you news Brazilian investment manager Perfin had launched its second vehicle – Perfin Infra II – with a target of 5 billion reals ($1 billion; €932 million). Some months down the line and the firm has raised about an initial $350 million, Carolina Rocha, COO for business development at Perfin, told The Pipeline.
The capital has predominantly come from local Brazilian LPs, although Perfin still retains hopes that other foreign investors will join the process as fundraising continues.
Perfin has already committed to two assets, winning an auction in March to build a transmission line connecting Brazil’s northeast and southeast regions, while it was also awarded a highway concession between Bela Horizonte and Juiz de Fora.
Perfin retains hope of attracting foreign investors to the vehicle in addition to its Brazilian base, with the offer of gross returns in the mid-to-high teens in the offing.
Newcomer Evolv launches €300m solar debt fund
Hamburg-based Evolv Asset Management has launched its first infrastructure fund: a solar debt fund targeting €300 million.
This is the second fund overall from the GP that only arrived on the scene last year, first raising a real estate fund.
The Evolv Solar Debt Fund will be investing in senior debt for German solar projects, and targets an annual return of 8 percent. The fund has an 8+2+2 year term and is complying with article 8 under the EU’s SFDR.
The Fund is launched under the Luxembourg RAIF regime with IntReal Luxembourg SA as AIFM, which gives this fund a somewhat real estate-ish feel, and the two asset classes are clearly intertwined in the GP’s entire set-up.
Evolv is also “the first institutional investment manager in German-speaking countries to focus exclusively on sustainable investments in the actively value-creating phases of real estate and infrastructure,” according to a statement.
Protests on a postcard.
Grapevine
“Let’s not go overboard on this. Data centres are, in the most extreme case, a 6 percent addition [in energy demand] but probably only 2 percent to 2.5 percent. The question is, will AI accelerate a more than 6% reduction? And the answer is: certainly.”
Bill Gates, speaking to journalists at the Breakthrough Energy Summit in London last month, seeks to quell fears of data centres’ energy consumption
Who’s hiring
Jimbo jumps over to Stonepeak in Japan
Stonepeak has appointed former Bank of America Securities Japan vice-president Yuichi Jimbo as chairman for Japan.
Based in Tokyo, Jimbo will support Stonepeak’s investment strategies in Japan and the APAC region, bringing his experience in global financial services, infrastructure and renewables from previous senior roles at Citigroup and JPMorgan Securities.
Stonepeak head of Asia and the Middle East Hajir Naghdy said the firm will benefit from Jimbo’s knowledge in the digital infrastructure, renewable generation and storage sectors.
“We believe his leadership ability, relationships, and experience will be highly additive to our established Asia Pacific team and we are thrilled to welcome him to the firm.”
Earlier this year Stonepeak closed its Asia Infrastructure Fund on $3.3 billion.
Speaking to Infrastructure Investor after this close, Naghdy described the regional tailwinds as “multi-decade” – so he may be hoping Jimbo is in it for the long haul.
Deals
GIC’s $1bn ‘crown jewel’
Singaporean sovereign investor GIC has increased its exposure to toll roads in Indonesia by investing in Jasamarga Transjawa Tol (JTT), a subsidiary of the Indonesian state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga (Persero), in a deal worth about $1 billion.
GIC is investing alongside its partner Metro Pacific Tollways, which is the leading toll road operator in the Philippines and will make its investment through local subsidiaries in Indonesia – one of which, PT Marguatama Nustara, GIC acquired a 33 percent stake for $209.9 million in 2023. GIC and MPTC together will acquire a 35 percent stake in JTT.
JTT is a network of 13 toll roads in the provinces of West Java, Central Java and East Java, which GIC described in a statement as “Indonesia’s crown jewel” that facilitates the movement of 850,000 across Java Island each day.
The investment will be used to allow JTT to expand its toll road footprint, as well as to raise further capital and maintain “a healthy leverage level”.