Equitix-backed Rakiza fund nears $1bn target

Rakiza Infrastructure Fund, which London-based infrastructure investment firm Equitix launched alongside Oman Infrastructure Management (OIM) in 2020, has secured a $300 million commitment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, bringing the total raised to date to around $750 million and one step closer to its $1 billion target.

The 10-year closed-end fund will focus on renewables, power, water, social infrastructure, telecoms, transport and logistics, the two firms said in a joint statement. It will invest in both brownfield and greenfield assets in Oman and Saudi Arabia, a narrower geographic remit than originally outlined in a prospectus when the fund was first launched.

According to that document, dated 17 March 2020, Rakiza would invest primarily in Oman with up to 25 percent of capital potentially invested in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. Asked why the fund’s geographic scope had changed, a spokesperson for Rakiza said it was due to “significant opportunities identified in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

The fund’s final target was also revised from $2 billion originally to $1 billion. Rakiza declined to comment on the downward revision.

Equitix and OIM will co-manage the fund – which reached a first close on $400 million in August 2020 – as well as share responsibility for fundraising, origination and asset management, a spokesperson said. Individual ticket sizes will range between $20 million and $200 million, and returns are expected to be in the double digits.

In January, Rakiza made its first investment, acquiring a 31 percent stake in Oman International Container Terminal, “a modern container-handling facility capable of accommodating the latest generation of mega-vessels”, according to a statement issued at the time. The facility is situated in the Port of Sohar, outside the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman. Financial details were not disclosed.