Ardian raises USD20b for European infrastructure fund
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: French private equity firm Ardian has raised a record USD20 billion ($30.74 billion) for its flagship infrastructure platform, which is set to invest predominantly in European opportunities.
The numbers: Ardian said that it its latest fund, Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI, reached its hard cap of USD13.5 billion. The platform also includes co-investments alongside the fund, marking the largest-ever fundraising for the strategy.
The vehicle is 90% larger than Ardian’s predecessor fund, which raised €6.1 billion in 2019.
The context: The infrastructure fund is primarily targeting long-term assets in in energy, transport and digital infrastructure
The fund attracted strong interest from both existing and new investors across the globe, Ardian said, with commitments from 229 limited partners in Europe, North America, APAC and the Middle East. It saw the biggest increase in commitments from the US, with the number of US investors more than doubling and accounting for 14% of the fundraising.
Ten new Australian investors accounted for 8% of the fund, not including co-investment, or around USD900 million.
Ardian has USD47 billion in assets under management for its infrastructure strategy covering the European and American essential infrastructure market, as well as funds related to the energy transition.
What they said: Mathias Burghardt, chief executive of Ardian France and head of infrastructure, told the AFR that large Australian institutional investors were among the standout contributors. “Australian LPs (limited partnerships) are very sophisticated, particularly when it comes to infrastructure investing,” Burghardt said. “Big Australian institutional investors obviously invest significantly in local infrastructure but are also keen in continuing to diversify their exposure overseas. We have seen the number of Australian institutions massively committing to our fund.”
