Bank of Ireland to shut down £80m infrastructure fund(2)

The Bank of Ireland is shutting down its debut infrastructure fund – an £80 million (€93 million; $131 million) investment vehicle dedicated to social infrastructure and related assets.

London-based Andrew Robertson, a managing director in the fund, said the bank is shutting down the fund because the division it sits within – corporate banking – is eliminating its equity investments arm, which includes infrastructure.

The decision to close the equity investments arm was made earlier this year, Robertson said, and the fund is now in a process of winding down. The fund has stopped fundraising and won’t make further investments, Robertson said.

According to a March 2008 fund marketing document, the fund sought to make investments in assets that have monopoly or quasi-monopoly positions, long-term asset lives, operate in regulated environments or have concession or take-off contracts underpinning their income streams.

Target sectors for such assets would include healthcare, education, government accommodation, waste management, renewable energy, transportation infrastructure, utilities essential storage and distribution networks, according to the document.

Robertson declined to discuss the fund’s already-acquired assets in detail, but described them as “very stable, managed assets”. He said the fund would be seeking to dispose of them or hold them for the longer term.

He added that the fund’s management team will be seeking new employment.