Stafford holds final close on infra secondaries fund

Stafford Capital Partners has hit an above-target final close on its latest infrastructure fund, one month after the firm rounded off fundraising on its latest timberland secondaries vehicle.

Stafford Infrastructure Secondaries Fund II closed on €400 million, exceeding its €250 million target, according to a statement from the firm. The fund attracted capital from new and existing investors.

The vehicle has already made six investments in infrastructure managers from Europe, the US and Australia, equivalent to around 25 percent of capital raised.

One of these deals was the March 2017 acquisition of a stake in the 2007-vintage, €2 billion RREEF Pan-European Infrastructure Fund, managed by Deutsche Bank. The interest was acquired from SCOR Investment Partners, the investment arm of French reinsurance company SCOR.

Fund II had been in market since July 2016, according to data from sister publication Infrastructure Investor.

Infrastructure secondaries deal volumes were up 11.1 percent year-on-year to $1.79 billion last year, according to intermediary Setter Capital’s Volume Report FY 2017.

In May Stafford hit a $612.5 million final close on its latest timberland fund after around 19 months in market. SIT VIII, which was targeting $500 million, has already made three secondaries investments and one co-investment, equivalent to around 21 percent of the fund.

The firm has more than $5.4 billion in assets under management across agriculture, credit, infrastructure, private equity, sustainable capital, timberland and venture capital. Around $1.3 billion is in real assets, the firm noted in the statement.

Watch Stephen Addicott, a timberland partner at Stafford Capital Partners, discuss why LPs choose to sell timberland and agri stakes.