Fundraising

Macquarie raises £739m for UK debt fund

The Australian manager’s global debt platform has now raised more than £2.5bn.

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Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS), the infrastructure debt unit of Macquarie Group, has reached a final close on what it claims is the UK’s first inflation-linked debt fund on £739 million (€1.02 billion; $1.15 billion), Infrastructure Investor has learnt.

The milestone brings the total raised by the Australian firm’s global infrastructure debt platform, which includes both pooled funds and separately managed accounts, to more than £2.5 billion. It comes after the fund reached a first close on £579 million last December, at a time when the capital raised by the overall unit totalled £1.8 billion.

“We have seen continuous demand from UK and European investors throughout the fundraising period as well as an increasing interest from investors in other jurisdictions. The speed of development and acceptance from borrowers has been strong,” said Andrew Robertson, co-head of MIDIS.

The platform has deployed more than £800 million since inception, providing fixed, floating and inflation-linked debt to transport, regulated utilities, social infrastructure, solar and onshore wind owners and operators.

Its latest investment, which saw Macquarie acquire £50 million worth of inflation-linked notes from UK utility Yorkshire Water, came after the firm offered £115 million to solar operator A Shade Greener in March, £106 million to renewables investment firm Low Carbon in May and a £45 million long-term debt facility to Bristol Airport in June.

It had previously provided £115 million of inflation-linked debt to Heathrow Airport and £21.5 million to renewables asset manager Quercus Assets Selection, both in February, and injected £60 million in a wind portfolio owned by Swiss-based fund manager Capital Dynamics in December 2014.

MIDIS was launched in November 2012 as Macquarie sought to meet UK pensions’ demand for debt investments matching their long-term inflation-linked liabilities. Its first mandate was a $500 million portfolio it has since managed on behalf of insurance and reinsurance group Swiss Re.