Fundraising

Macquarie takes Renaissance stake in Russia fund

A restructuring sees Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets acquire Renaissance Group’s commitment to a $630m fund.

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Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) has assumed sole management of a $630 million fund targeting Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), having bought out the stake held by its original fund partner, Renaissance Group.

The restructuring sees Macquarie double its equity commitment to the fund to $100 million, having originally committed $50 million alongside a further $50 million from Renaissance, the Russian investment banking group.

The fund, which was originally known as the Macquarie Renaissance Infrastructure Fund, has been renamed the Macquarie Russia and CIS Infrastructure Fund (MRIF). Macquarie says it is “the only major private infrastructure fund dedicated to investing directly in infrastructure in Russia, Kazakhstan and other key CIS markets”.

Investors in the fund include Russia’s Vnesheconombank, Eurasian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation and Kazakh sovereign wealth subsidiary Kaznya Capital Management. A statement said the investors were in support of the restructuring.

“We’ve been very pleased with the investments the fund has made over the past four years, and we are actively looking for new opportunities in transportation, energy and other sectors that provide essential services,” said Aaron Rubin, chief executive of MRIF in the statement.

He added: “We would like to thank Renaissance for their partnership and support during the development of the fund.”

Renaissance’s fund stake was held by Renaissance Capital Holdings. In April this year, Renaissance Capital was acquired by Onexim, a Russian investment fund owned by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.

MRIF has so far made four investments in: power companies OGK-5 and GSR Energy; transportation firm Brunswick Rail; and telecommunications business Russian Towers. The fund has 12 full-time staff based in Russia and Kazakhstan.

In a keynote interview in the July/August 2013 issue of Infrastructure Investor, MIRA global head Martin Stanley highlighted the firm’s regional approach. “You can have a very similar asset in North America, Europe and Asia, but the risk profile in each region will be very different,” he said, “And that’s why we offer regional products.”