Infra fundraising hits $20bn as Q1 rise returns

Infrastructure fundraising reached $20 billion in the first quarter of this year, data from Infrastructure Investor have revealed.

The figure is a 31.5 percent increase on the amount raised during the first three months of 2018. It is also equivalent to 22.3 percent of last year’s final total of $89.8 billion.

Fundraisings of about $20 billion each from Brookfield and Global Infrastructure Partners are still expected in 2019. Other large fundraisings expected to conclude this year include Macquarie’s sixth European fund and Antin Infrastructure Partners’ fourth fund, which are expected to close at around €6 billion each.

The average size of the six funds raised in Q1 2019 is $2.9 billion, a marked increase on the $1.4 billion across 11 funds in Q1 2018. The raising of just six funds continues a trend in which the number of funds raised in Q1 has not increased since 2015.

A large proportion of the Q1 total came via EQT’s €9 billion fourth fund, which is targeting investments across various sectors in Europe and North America. Of the six funds to close, it is the only one to not be region- or sector-specific. Three of the six are dedicated to low carbon or renewables strategies, while Ardian’s and Meridiam’s are dedicated to Europe and Africa respectively.