Zak Bentley
The firm is eyeing a first close in June, following backing from industrial partners, as it focuses predominantly on European greenfield.
The French fund manager has exited its concession at the London hub in a deal believed to value the site at close to £1bn.
The bid for CityFibre comes four years after an IPO raised £16.5m, with the pair believing the company ‘better suited’ to private ownership.
The pair have committed a total of €28.5m to Community Fibre, which received initial backing from Railpen a year ago.
As major European markets struggle to meet full-fibre expectations, we find out what infrastructure investors are doing to help bridge the gap.
The fund has bought a 53.3MW portfolio in its first transaction for assets based in the country for 14 months.
The asset manager plans to quickly expand the infrastructure team, which will be based in France.
First-round bids for the Luxembourg-based utility are expected towards the end of next month.
The fund is the latest London-listed infrastructure offering to stall as the sector suffers from perceptions around the Labour party’s policies.
An IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange is expected by the end of the year for First State, which is still fundraising for its second European infrastructure fund.