Fund Manager of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: Brookfield Asset Management
Third Place: EQT

KKR closed the largest infrastructure fund of 2022 on $17 billion, as well as a further $5.5 billion for its second dedicated Asia strategy, the biggest pool of capital raised in the region. Furthermore, KKR has deployed $11 billion in infrastructure investment in the past 12 months. Key deals include CyrusOne, a global developer and operator of hyperscale and large enterprise-focused data centres and Albioma, a renewable energy producer operating biomass power plants representing 1GW of installed capacity in French overseas territories and Brazil, as well as solar power plants and geothermal assets in France.

Institutional Investor of the Year

First place: OTPP

Second place: CDPQ
Third place: OMERS

In a typically robust and globe-spanning 2022, OTPP invested £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion; €1.7 billion) into Scottish clean electricity distribution; $800 million to support NextEra Energy’s purchase of a 2GW renewables portfolio; expanded its Indian roads footprint; acquired Spark NZ’s mobile tower business for NZ$900 million ($566 million; €529 million); wrote a $1 billion cheque to support the GIG’s new offshore wind developer and closed on the A$5.2 billion ($3.6 billion; €3.4 billion) acquisition of Spark Infrastructure. OTPP also backed a $650 million equity syndication programme to develop an underground salt cavern in Utah, set to become the site of the world’s largest green hydrogen platform to date.

Equity Fundraising of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: Brookfield Asset Management
Third Place: DigitalBridge

KKR raised $17 billion for its fourth flagship fund, the largest vehicle closed during 2022. The firm exceeded its $12 billion target and amassed more than double the $7.4 billion raised by the fund’s predecessor in 2018. KKR is investing $1 billion into Fund IV, which will target deals in North America and Western Europe. Its investments will span digital communications, transportation, waste and the energy transition, where it will have a particular focus on brown to green transformations.

Debt Fundraising of the Year

First Place: BlackRock

Second Place: Barings
Third Place: SCOR Investment Partners

BlackRock’s infrastructure debt platform has raised a record $5.1 billion over the past year, with 70 percent coming from existing clients. On the fund side, its $640 million Colombian infrastructure debt vehicle was three times the size of its predecessor and the country’s largest local currency infrastructure debt fund. BlackRock also secured a number of infrastructure debt SMAs. These achievements come on the back of a strong 2021, when BlackRock raised $1.67 billion for its Global Infrastructure Debt Fund, more than tripling its target.

Deal of the Year

First Place: CyrusOne (KKR, Global Infrastructure Partners)

Second Place: Atlas Renewable Energy (Global Infrastructure Partners)
Third Place: AusNet (AIMCo, Brookfield Asset Management, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plans, IMCO, PSP Investments, Sunsuper)

The $15 billion take private of CyrusOne is the largest data centre deal ever, encompassing 57 sites and a power capacity of almost 1GW. The company primarily boasts hyperscale data centres in the US and Europe, generating more than 50 percent of its revenues from cloud service providers including Microsoft, Google and Amazon Webservices, as well as social media companies such as Facebook. The two firms plan to support CyrusOne as it continues to expand its footprint across global digital gateway markets.

PPP Deal of the Year

First Place: JFK New Terminal One (Ferrovial, Carlyle, JLC Infrastructure, Ullico)

Second Place: Sotra Connection (Macquarie Capital, SK ecoplant, Webuild)
Third Place: Purple Line (Meridiam, Star America)

JFK New Terminal One overcame significant complexity to reach a $9.5 billion close and pave the way for future PPP transport projects affected by the covid-19 pandemic. Introducing new capital and expertise with the addition of Ferrovial, an innovative interest rate risk hedging strategy was added to accommodate today’s new realities. The project is expected to generate more than 10,000 jobs and is the largest private investment ever committed to a US airport terminal. The New Terminal One will be the largest international terminal at JFK.

Energy Deal of the Year

First Place: Aramco Gas Pipelines Company (BlackRock, Hassana Investment Company)

Second Place: Gemini (Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners)
Third Place: AusNet (AIMCo, Brookfield Asset Management, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, IMCO, PSP Investments, Sunsuper)

Aramco Gas Pipelines Company is one of the world’s largest energy infrastructure deals, involving a 49 percent stake in Saudi Aramco’s newly formed subsidiary, Aramco Gas Pipelines Company, valued at $15.5 billion. The deal involved a sale and leaseback of the usage rights to Aramco’s natural gas pipeline network over a 20-year period. Under the arrangement, Aramco Gas Pipelines Company will receive a tariff payable by Aramco for the gas products that flow through the network. The deal follows the closing of a $12.4 billion infrastructure transaction in connection with Aramco’s stabilised crude oil pipeline network in 2021.

Energy Transition Deal of the Year

First Place: Atlas Renewable Energy (Global Infrastructure Partners)

Second Place: Akaysha Energy (BlackRock)
Third Place: Gemini (Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners)

Atlas Renewable Energy develops, finances, constructs and operates renewable energy projects. It boasts 2.3GW of installed solar capacity across 14 different assets in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay and is the second largest independent renewables developer in Latin America. Atlas was founded in 2016 with the support of Actis and has increased its installed capacity by five times in a four-and-a-half-year period. The company is focused on helping large corporates make the transition to clean energy. Global Infrastructure Partners acquired Atlas in October last year.

Digital Infrastructure Deal of the Year

First Place: CyrusOne (KKR, Global Infrastructure Partners)

Second Place: Telia Tower Partners (Brookfield Asset Management, Alecta)
Third Place: Uniti (Brookfield Asset Management, Morrison & Co)

Winner of the Global Deal of the Year category, CyrusOne, has also sealed the prize for Digital Infrastructure Deal of the Year. The $15 billion take-private is GIP’s first foray into the digital infrastructure space but represents familiar ground for KKR. CyrusOne is a trans-Atlantic data centre behemoth, serving around 1,000 customers including 200 Fortune 1000 companies. It operates more than 50 sites, across co-location, hyperscale and built-to-suit environments and specialises in both hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud deployments.

Transport Deal of the Year

First Place: Autostrade per I’Italia (CDP Equity, Macquarie Asset Management, Blackstone)

Second Place: Sydney Airport (IFM Investors, Global Infrastructure Partners, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust)
Third Place: JFK New Terminal One (Ferrovial, Carlyle, JLC Infrastructure, Ullico)

In May 2022, CDP Equity, Macquarie and Blackstone, completed the
€9.3 billion acquisition of Atlantia’s 88.06 percent stake in Autostrade per l’Italia, the private toll-road operator that manages roughly 51 percent of the country’s road network, totalling about 3,000km. The investors’ plans include an upgrade of the network to facilitate digitalisation and innovation as well as improving the efficiency of infrastructure maintenance to ensure high standards of safety and performance.

Placement Agent of the Year

First Place: Evercore Private Funds Group

Second Place: Campbell Lutyens
Third Place: Threadmark

Evercore Private Funds Group helped support I Squared Capital’s $15 billion third fund, marking the fourth time that Evercore and I Squared have worked together. The fund raised capital from over 200 institutional investors across 27 countries and surpassed both its initial $12 billion target and original $13 billion hard-cap. Evercore also advised on a number of interim closes for four other managers, including helping to raise some €7 billion for Antin’s latest flagship, which is still in market.

Energy Investor of the Year

First Place: Global Infrastructure Partners

Second Place: BlackRock
Third Place: JPMorgan Asset Management

Global Infrastructure Partners made several investments across the energy sector in 2022. Highlights include the acquisition of Atlas Renewable Energy, Latin America’s second largest independent renewables developer; and the acquisition of a 49 percent non-operating participating stake in Woodside Petroleum’s Pluto Train 2, a development that includes a new LNG train and the construction of domestic gas facilities at the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility in Western Australia. Other deals include the acquisition of wpd’s offshore wind business, since been renamed Skyborn Renewables.

Energy Transition Investor of the Year

First Place: BlackRock

Second Place: Brookfield Asset Management
Third Place: Green Investment Group (Macquarie Asset Management)

BlackRock has invested $3 billion in 15 deals over the past year including cutting-edge deals like the $700 million purchase of US renewable natural gas producer Vanguard and a $500 million bespoke investment in Navigator CO2, the largest carbon capture project in the world. The initial phase is expected to span more than 1,200 miles of new carbon dioxide gathering and transportation pipelines across five Midwest states, with the capability of permanently storing up to five million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

Transport Investor of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: Vauban Infrastructure Partners
Third Place: Macquarie Asset Management

KKR took its first steps into transport in China with an investment in WE PARK, alongside ADM Capital and LimeTree Capital. Established in 2014, WE PARK is a platform that owns and operates car parks in commercial complexes, office buildings, retail businesses and transport hubs, with 66 assets across China. It also aims to become the leading provider of electric vehicle charging stations in China. In addition, KKR launched its third infrastructure investment trust in India in 2022, seeding it with a portfolio of six road assets.

Digital Investor of the Year

First Place: KKR

Second Place: DigitalBridge
Third Place: Brookfield Asset Management

The $15 billion take-private of data centre giant CyrusOne has sealed the title of Digital Investor of the Year for KKR. But the firm was also active in other areas of digital infrastructure investment, acquiring the €16 billion Vantage Towers from Vodafone with the ambition of creating a pan-European telecoms champion. Both transactions were completed alongside Global Infrastructure Partners. In total, KKR clinched seven digital infrastructure deals across the globe in 2022, as well as realising over €2 billion of exits in the sector.

Social Infrastructure Investor of the Year

First Place: InfraVia Capital Partners

Second Place: Stonepeak
Third Place: Meridiam

InfraVia Capital Partners launched Quartz Healthcare in 2022, with the intention of turning it into a leading pan-European diagnostic imaging platform. The firm also made the leap into animal healthcare with an investment in Univet, a French veterinary care provider. Both deals were secured via limited auctions and will pursue acquisitive growth strategies. Quartz’s initial acquisition involved Dr. Neumaier MVZ, a multidisciplinary outpatient radiology platform in Bavaria, providing MRI facilities in 12 locations.

Mid-Market Investor of the Year

First Place: iCON Infrastructure

Second Place: Asterion Industrial Partners
Third Place: Cube Infrastructure Managers

iCON Infrastructure closed its sixth fund on $3.6 billion in 2022 in a ‘one and done’ fundraising that took just three months to complete. The fund received commitments from 96 LPs in total and had a 97 percent re-up rate. iCON also ploughed more than $1 billion into ski lifts at an Italian resort, a French container terminal operator and a US fibre provider. Its predecessor fund is now fully realised following one final exit.

Listed Infrastructure Investor of the Year

First Place: BlackRock

Second Place: CBRE Investment Management
Third Place: ATLAS Infrastructure

BlackRock’s Infrastructure and Real Estate Securities platform boasts assets under management of $6.3 billion, $1.3 billion of which is in infrastructure securities. Its Global Listed Infrastructure Strategy, launched in 2018, is managing close to $750 million, delivering 260 basis points of annualised alpha since inception. It has recorded top decile performance over the past four years, coupled with fees with the lowest quartile.

Innovator of the Year

First Place: Partners Group

Second Place: Ares Management
Third Place: Prime Capital

Partners Group acquired atNorth, Iceland’s largest data centre operator at the start of 2022 and the firm has since set about greening the assets, including recycling all of the residual heat from the data centres to heat up to 20,000 apartments. atNorth operates three data centres, two in Iceland and one in Sweden. The data centres are supplied entirely by renewable power. Partners Group’s aim is to build next generation infrastructure across the Nordics, at the intersection of the digitisation and decarbonisation giga themes.

Bank of the Year

First Place: Crédit Agricole CIB

Second Place: Société Générale
Third Place: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

Crédit Agricole CIB took a leading role in some of the biggest infrastructure deals of the year, including the A$31 billion ($21.4 billion; €20 billion) take-private of Sydney Airport; CDPQ’s $5 billion acquisition of Djebel Ali Port; the A$3.2 billion privatisation of Victoria Motor Registries; Macquarie’s acquisition of UK motorway services business Roadchef and the purchase of Autostrade per I’Italia by Blackstone, CDP Equity and Macquarie. In addition, the bank was involved in a multitude of refinancing transactions throughout the course of 2022.

Law Firm of the Year

First Place: Clifford Chance

Second Place: Allen & Overy
Third Place: White & Case

Clifford Chance has advised on 115 deals worth more than $113 billion over the past 12 months, with the energy transition increasingly a sector of focus. Standout transactions include Meridiam, GIP and CDC’s acquisition of a new Suez, designed to be a major player in environmental services with annual revenues of almost $7 billion. Clifford Chance also advised on AXA IM and Crédit Agricole’s acquisition of a stake in Hornsea 2 and Actis and Mainstream’s sale of Lekela Power.