MEAG raises €660m for maiden debt fund

Munich-based MEAG has closed its maiden infrastructure debt fund on €660 million, above its target of €500 million.

The asset management arm of German insurance firms Munich Re and ERGO reached a €200 million first close on MEAG infrastructure Debt Fund in January, having previously only invested in infrastructure debt on a separate-account basis.

MEAG said two-thirds of capital had been committed by German investors, and the remainder by investors from other European countries. A spokesman for MEAG told Infrastructure Investor that Austrian investors were also a significant part of the mix.

Harald Lechner, managing director at MEAG, said in a statement: “The turnaround in the US interest-rate policy and the outlook that rates will remain low for some time convinced many investors to buy into more attractive returns at acceptable risk.”

MEAG said the fund had so far invested around €100 million, and that the vehicle was targeting 3 percent returns solely from European senior debt deals. It has made six investments so far, including support for French broadband group Axione Infrastructures, German rail operator Benex and trains in Saxony, Germany. The fund has typically invested in deals alongside Munich Re, in which the insurer has been deploying funds separately on behalf of its clients.

Fellow German insurance group Allianz GI is in the market for its own European infrastructure debt fund. The firm is targeting €500 million with a 3 percent return and held a first close on €270 million in May. Whitehelm Capital is also thought to be raising its own debut European debt fund.