Deals

Ardian among backers of €1bn-plus infra GP-led

The process carried out by Antin Infrastructure Partners gives more capital to fast-growing assets in its 2016-vintage Fund III, including three fibre companies.

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Antin Infrastructure Partners has used the secondaries market to get more capital for four stand-out assets.

The Paris-headquartered infrastructure firm raised a €1.2 billion annex fund to buy minority stakes in four assets held by its 2016-vintage Fund III as part of a process run by Evercore, sister publication Infrastructure Investor reported.

It is understood the assets have been growing faster than anticipated and require capital for follow-on investments. Three of the four are fibre companies: CityFibre in the UK, FirstLight in the US and Lyntia in Spain.

Ardian and Pantheon were co-leads on the deal alongside two co-underwriters and some existing limited partners, according to a source familiar with the matter: “All of the money raised from the sale is being recycled. None of it goes back to the LPs [like in a conventional restructuring],” the source said.

Antin Infrastructure Partners III raised €3.6 billion, against a target of €3 billion, by final close in December 2016, according to data from Infrastructure Investor. Investors include New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association, which committed €65 million, and Institutional Investment Partners Denmark, which committed €75 million.

In July, the €14 billion infrastructure manager completed fundraising for its fourth flagship fund, closing on €6.5 billion.

Infrastructure secondaries transaction volumes declined by 4.4 percent in the first half of this year, compared with more than 50 percent for private equity, according to a survey by intermediary Setter Capital.

“There is a premium right now on steady, yield-generating assets,” said one buy-side source at the time.

Antin and Evercore did not wish to comment. Pantheon and Ardian did not respond to a request for comment.