Eiser changes fundraising strategy

Eiser Infrastructure, the pan-European infrastructure fund manager based in London, has shifted to a managed account focus for raising capital to invest in developed European markets.

A spokesperson for the firm told Infrastructure Investor it had “changed from a primary focus on a traditional fund product in OECD Europe to focus on managed account like structures for the more mature, developed markets in Europe”.

However, the spokesperson added that “outside of OECD Europe, Eiser continues to consider more traditional fund products” and insisted that – contrary to other media reports – “fundraising has not stopped” for the firm’s second infrastructure fund, which has a target of €1 billion and reached a €277 million first close in 2011. There were “no confirmed final timescales” for the fundraising, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added: “The main driver behind this change was to be responsive to the requirements of key, large-scale investors, who expressed a desire for more direct exposure and control of their specific concentration and risk requirements”.

Eiser’s first infrastructure fund closed on €1.1 billion in 2005 (when part of Fortis bank) and has eight portfolio companies spread across the energy, environmental services and transport sectors. It has divested two school portfolios in the UK for what it described as an “excellent result” for stakeholders.

The firm is headed by managing partner Hans Meissner, a former ABN AMRO executive who led the firm’s buyout from French bank BNP Paribas in 2009. The management team also includes partners Hafeez Ahmed, Jaime Hector and Vivian Nicoli.

In June 2013, head of asset management Wael Elkhouly left the firm to join Toronto-based fund manager Bastion Infrastructure Group.