EQT Partners closes infrastructure fund on €1.2bn

The investor base is made up of new and existing investors including AP4, Skandia, Pantheon Ventures and Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. Investor AB, the sponsor of EQT Infrastructure, contributed ten per cent of the total fund commitments.

The new fund will focus on basic infrastructure, concession-based infrastructure, social infrastructure, and infrastructure-related services in Northern and Eastern Europe, but will also have the flexibility to invest globally, the firm said.

Investments will typically be between €100m and €1bn in transaction size in large and medium-sized infrastructure companies.

Lennart Blecher, head of EQT Partners' infrastructure team, said, 'EQT funds are known for driving industrial acceleration in portfolio companies with a hands-on ownership approach and using a clearly defined corporate governance model. The advising team will continue to build on that experience for EQT Infrastructure which, like the other EQT funds advised by EQT Partners, has a clear focus on operational improvement. We see EQT Infrastructure as a natural extension of the buy-out business and are convinced that the fund will be able to make an important and substantial contribution to the development of infrastructure in its target markets.'

Conni Jonsson, managing partner of EQT Partners, added, 'EQT Partners is very pleased with the strong support that EQT Infrastructure has received from both existing and new investors. We believe that with its access to EQT's global industrial network and the advisory team's extensive infrastructure experience and local networks, EQT Infrastructure is well positioned to identify and develop attractive infrastructure assets.'

EQT has offices in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Frankfurt, Munich, New York, Zurich, Warsaw, Shanghai and Hong Kong. The firm has raised approximately €11bn in fund capital since 1994 and invested some €6bn in more than 60 companies.

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