Fund Manager of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: Macquarie Asset Management
Third Place: BlackRock

After closing its first APAC-focused fund on $3.9 billion in 2021, KKR kept busy in 2022, nearly reaching full deployment of that vehicle while also raising capital for a follow-on fund. The firm deployed approximately $3.5 billion across 13 investments, including four deals in India, and one each in Japan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Australia and China. KKR also established a renewables platform that will operate in Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. Key deals include the launch of Highways Infrastructure Trust, with an initial portfolio of six roads assets spanning more than 450km across six states in India.

Equity Fundraising of the Year

First Place: Macquarie Asset Management

Second Place: Pacific Equity Partners
Third Place: ARA Asset Management

Macquarie Asset Management closed the third fund in its MAIF series at its $4.2 billion hard-cap, exceeding a $3 billion target and making it the largest APAC-focused infrastructure fund raised to date. The firm has already made seven investments from the vehicle, committing around 60 percent of its capital. Transactions include Bohao Internet Data Services and Metcold Supply Networks in China; Summit Energy Alliance in South Korea; Bersama Digital Infrastructure in Indonesia; Vocus and Bingo Industries in Australia and 2degrees in New Zealand. The total raised by the MAIF series has now exceeded $15 billion.

Deal of the Year

First Place: Spark Infrastructure (KKR, OTPP, PSP Investments)

Second Place: Akaysha Energy (BlackRock)
Third Place: Sydney Airport (IFM Investors, Global Infrastructure Partners, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust)

A consortium comprised of US-based manager KKR and Canadian pension funds Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and PSP Investments snapped up Sydney-based electricity infrastructure owner Spark Infrastructure for A$5.2 billion ($3.6 billion; €3.36 billion).

The consortium saw its first two takeover offers rejected before Spark Infrastructure’s board agreed to the offer of A$2.95 per stapled security. Spark owns stakes in distribution networks SA Power Networks and Victoria Power Networks. It also has a 15 percent stake in transmission network Transgrid and fully owns the 100MW Bomen Solar Farm in New South Wales.

Energy Deal of the Year

First Place: Spark Infrastructure (KKR, OTPP, PSP Investments)

Second Place: ElectraNet (Macquarie Asset Management, Morrison & Co, Sunsuper)
Third Place: AusNet (AIMCo, Brookfield Asset Management, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, IMCO, PSP Investments, Sunsuper)

Spark Infrastructure takes a second prize for the Asia-Pacific region by being named Energy Deal of the Year. KKR led a consortium, which also comprised Canadian pensions OTPP and PSP Investments, to acquire the Australian Securities Exchange-listed Spark for A$5.2 billion in one of the region’s largest energy deals of the year. The company owns stakes in a string of regulated electricity distribution and transmission assets across New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, as well as a 120MW solar farm in NSW. Spark serves more than five million homes and businesses and stands to play a major role in helping to support the transition of Australia’s energy grid to being less reliant on fossil fuel generation.

Energy Transition Deal of the Year

First Place: Akaysha Energy (BlackRock)

Second Place: Eku Energy (Macquarie Asset Management)
Third Place: OASIS Fund platform (Octopus Investments Australia)

BlackRock Real Assets’ acquisition of Australian battery storage developer Akaysha Energy, made via the firm’s Global Renewable Power Fund III, marked the first energy storage investment in the Asia-Pacific region for the firm’s climate infrastructure business. The firm aims to deploy A$1 billion towards the build-out of Akaysha’s 1GW portfolio which comprises nine battery storage assets including Ulinda Park in the west of Brisbane. The company has also developed the Palmerston Battery Energy Storage System in Tasmania. It has plans to deploy a large-scale battery with a capacity of between 200MW and 400MW near Wellington.

Transport Deal of the Year

First Place: Highways Infrastructure Trust (KKR)

Second Place: Sydney Airport (IFM Investors, Global Infrastructure Partners, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust)
Third Place: Rail First (DIF Capital Partners, Amber Infrastructure Partners)

KKR launched Highways Infrastructure Trust – its third infrastructure investment trust in India – in August 2022. Seeded with a roads portfolio comprised of six assets spanning more than 450km across six states – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana – there are further acquisitions in the pipeline.

KKR’s three infrastructure trusts in India now operate and manage 33 assets valued at more than $3.8 billion across 22 states and union territories in the country.

Digital Infrastructure Deal of the Year

First Place: Bersama Digital Infrastructure (Macquarie Asset Management, PSP Investments)

Second Place: WaveConn (OMERS Infrastructure)
Third Place: Uniti (Brookfield Asset Management, Morrison & Co)

Macquarie Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund 3 acquired a significant minority stake in Bersama Digital Infrastructure, a Southeast Asian digital infra platform that owns a majority stake in a leading independent Indonesian telecoms towers business, for approximately $610 million. Macquarie has invested alongside existing owners Provident Capital and PT Saratoga Investama Sedaya. The platform will also pursue investments in fibre and data centre assets across the region, which Macquarie considers to be highly attractive due to the exponential growth of data consumption and significant capital requirements to keep pace with demand.

Energy Investor of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: BlackRock
Third Place: Octopus Investments Australia

Energy continued to be a strong pillar of KKR’s infrastructure investment strategy in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, with the firm announcing or launching several new investments and platforms throughout the year. These included Singapore-headquartered platform Aster Renewable Energy; Indian independent power producer Hero Future Energies and Indian decarbonisation platform Serentica Renewables. The firm also led a consortium to acquire the Australian listed energy networks business Spark Infrastructure, winner of Energy Deal of the Year.

Transport Investor of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: IFM Investors
Third Place: DIF Capital Partners

In addition to launching its third infrastructure investment trust in India with a portfolio of six roads, for which it won the Transport Deal of the Year category for Asia-Pacific, KKR also made its first foray into transport in China with an investment in WE PARK, alongside ADM Capital and LimeTree Capital. WE PARK is a platform that owns and operates car parks in commercial complexes, office buildings, retail businesses and transport hubs. It comprises 66 assets in total.

Digital Infrastructure Investor of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: Macquarie Asset Management
Third Place: Seraya Partners

KKR enjoyed a busy year building out its Asia-Pacific digital footprint in 2022. This included the largest tower sale-and-leaseback deal in the Philippines, which saw the firm’s Pinnacle Towers, an Asia-focused digital infrastructure platform that invests in, builds and operates towers and related assets, buy over 3,500 towers from Globe. Pinnacle also expanded into Bangladesh, with the acquisition of AB HighTech, which saw it become one of only four licensed towercos operating in the country.