Marunouchi hits $457m target for first Japan core fund

Marunouchi Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Japanese general trading house Mitsubishi Corporation, has reached its 50 billion-yen ($457 million; €376 million) target for the country’s first diversified infrastructure fund, according to the firm’s senior management.

The target was reached in March, just five months after its official launch, and well ahead of the 12- to 18 month-fundraising period originally planned.

Satoshi Mukoyama, a director at Marunouchi, told Infrastructure Investor that the fund remains open to new commitments, with “a number of investors currently in late-stage due diligence”. However, the firm is no longer actively marketing the fund to new investors, he added.

Shinichi Nao, chief investment officer of Marunouchi, added that the firm has neither determined when the final close will be held nor the final size of the fund, which has a hard-cap of 100 billion yen. Nao said the vehicle has started investing, but he declined to disclose further details.

This is the first Japan-focused diversified infrastructure fund in the market, targeting core infrastructure assets in the transport, energy and utilities sectors. The fund is planning to deliver a single-digit annual cash yield.

Last December, the GP said domestic investors, including pension funds, commercial banks and business enterprises, have backed the fund. It also identified the GP’s parent Mitsubishi Corporation, Mizuho Bank, The Toho Bank, and Private Finance Initiative Promotion Corporation of Japan as some of the fund’s LPs.