Cube Infrastructure is aiming to reach a first close on its second vehicle before the summer of this year, according to people with knowledge of the fundraising process.
The Luxembourg-based firm expects to have collected between €400 million and €500 million by the time it reaches the milestone, sources told Infrastructure Investor. That would bring it between a third and halfway towards its €1.2 billion target.
Cube declined to comment.
The fund was officially launched in January, when Cube spun off from former parent bank Natixis through a management buyout. It received an early boost last month when the European Investment Bank’s investment committee approved a €100 million commitment to the vehicle.
It is understood that the pledge is now awaiting approval by the lender’s board of directors.
Cube Infrastructure II will follow a similar strategy to its €1.08 billion predecessor, which is now close to being fully invested. It will focus on sectors including energy efficiency, optic fibre and public transport, with some room left for opportunistic investments.
Cube and Geneva Airport are among the parties likely to compete for Lyon Airport, which is slated for privatisation by the French state later this year.
Cube’s first fund counts 23 limited partners from Europe and North America. These include US pension Maine Public Employees Retirement System, Swiss-based Partners Group and German asset manager YIELCO Investments, according to Infrastructure Investor Research & Analytics.
The fund manager targets gross returns of between 12 and 15 percent, with a majority of revenues generated by assets under availability-based arrangements.
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