InfraVia Raises $5.5 Billion for Fifth Infrastructure Fund

(Bloomberg) -- French private equity firm InfraVia Capital Partners has raised 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) from investors for a fifth infrastructure fund to target European digital, education and health businesses, and green energy investments. 

The fund was “significantly oversubscribed” and exceeded its original 3 billion-euro target to reach a limit it set of 5 billion euros, the company’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Levita said in an interview with Bloomberg News. The vehicle, which is more than twice the size of InfraVia’s fourth infrastructure fund, attracted 2.3 billion euros of commitments from new clients, with 40% of the investors based outside Europe, he said.

“Infrastructure funds are resilient in crises, at least crises that we’ve seen so far; they withstand inflation and market volatility,” Levita said. 

InfraVia will consider buying a stake in freight locomotive operator Akiem, which is up for sale, and waste recycling infrastructure businesses “if they are properly regulated,” Levita said.  Its main focus will be digital investments followed by energy transition. It will also look at “social” infrastructure such as clinics, laboratories and higher education, Levita said. There could also be interest in electric-car charging networks, he said.

Investors are pouring money into infrastructure funds, lured by the promise of recurring returns supported by trends such as aging populations and the energy transition. InfraVia European Fund V, as the new fund is known, has already invested in Grandir, a French childcare operator, and in fiber networks in Germany and Ireland. 

The Paris-based firm, which has previously bought French fiber businesses, will probably invest further in that area as projects flourish in countries such as the U.K., Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Poland, Levita said. It will also look at investment opportunities in data centers as demand keeps growing, he said.

The buyout company, which just agreed to sell its stake in French solar power developer Reden Solar, will continue to be “active” in renewable energy as governments, businesses and consumers seek to reduce their use of fossil fuels to fight global warming, Levita said.

In the meantime, the private equity firm is considering selling its 80% stake in Alkion Terminals, a Dutch operator of petrochemical products storage it owns in its third infrastructure fund, a person familiar with the matter said. The potential divestment comes after several years of owning the business and as part of a shift to more green-focused investments. InfraVia declined to comment on the matter. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.