Borealis changes name to OMERS Infrastructure

The infrastructure arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System has changed its name, abandoning the Borealis Infrastructure label in an effort to highlight its connection to the Toronto-based pension fund.

The firm will operate as OMERS Infrastructure Management, a move OMERS Private Markets chief investment officer Michael Rolland said “helps the global marketplace recognise our direct connection to the more than 470,00 members of OMERS on behalf of whom we manage a portfolio of investment assets”.

Borealis was launched in 1999. Along with OMERS Private Equity, the pension fund’s infrastructure arm comprises half of OMERS Private Markets, which has offices in Toronto, London, New York and Sydney.

The infrastructure firm has made investments in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia, targeting assets with enterprise values of $2 billion or more. OMERS moved into the South American infrastructure space in April, paying $341 million for a 34.6 percent stake in Chile’s GNL Quintero natural gas terminal. Last year, the fund entered Australia as part of a consortium buying the Port of Melbourne.

OMERS holds more than C$85 billion ($67 billion; €57 billion) in assets under management. Around 17 percent of the firm’s capital is allocated to infrastructure investment.
Rolland suggested that despite the name change, the firm would not be altering its overall approach to infrastructure investment.