DIF appoints new partner

DIF, the Schiphol-based fund manager, has promoted Robert Doekes as partner.

Doekes has been working with DIF since 2009 as head of finance, responsible for fund reporting, accounting, treasury, tax, legal, IT and compliance. He was previously chief financial officer of Mirror Controls International (MCi), a company that makes mirror parts for the automotive business, from 2007 to 2009.

Prior to joining MCi, Doekes held senior finance roles in companies including electronic components maker Stork Aerospace Industries, life science business DSM and construction group Ballast Nedam.

His appointment brings the number of DIF partners to five. The firm already counts Wim Blaasse, Maarten Koopman, Menno Witteveen and partner Paul Nash as managing partners.

The promotion comes shortly after DIF reached financial close for a fire station public-private partnership (PPP) in Loiret, central France. The transaction will be partly funded by DIF’s Fund III, which has been on an acquisition spree since its final €800 million close last March.

Transactions sealed by the vehicle include a 34-megawatt (MW) portfolio of solar plants in the south-east of France, an increased stake in a UK portfolio of 10 Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects, two UK solar plants, an Irish road PPP, and a stake in a British Columbia-based hospital public-private partnership (P3).

Another landmark deal by the firm was its November takeover of Ampere Equity Fund, a renewables investment vehicle previously advised by Dutch lender Triodos.

DIF counts a team of 38 professionals based in Schiphol, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Toronto and Luxembourg. It manages four funds totaling €1.6 billion.