Partners Group has raised $2.5 billion for its latest infrastructure vehicle, which has just signed a third capital deployment, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Partners Group Direct Infrastructure 2020 fundraise is at the midway point and the Swiss-based firm has moved to acquire a new platform company in the US called Resilient Infrastructure Group. The latter plans to invest in and acquire assets in the water sector that provide treatment and reuse services as well as wastewater conversion to renewable energy, mostly for commercial and industrial customers.
Having already raised more capital for this fund than any of Partners Group’s previous infrastructure vehicles, the firm plans to continue collecting commitments for the rest of this year until it reaches a $5 billion target, the source told Infrastructure Investor. The fund launched at the end of 2019 and held a first close on $2 billion last summer.
Partners Group is seeking 8-12 percent net returns, or mid-teen gross returns, for investments from this fund. The firm is pursuing off-market assets and platform companies with potential for growth and expansion in areas such as supporting net-zero carbon emissions, the digitisation of economies and social infrastructure, the source said. Sectors of interest include energy, communications, utilities and transport in markets including Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.
As part of Partners Group’s acquisition of Resilient, the platform company closed an investment in a wastewater-to-renewable natural gas project in Oregon. Partners Group’s investment value was not disclosed.
Previous investments from the Direct Infrastructure 2020 fund include the January 2020 acquisition of European renewables developer VSB Group and an investment in October in European toll company Telepass, both for undisclosed amounts.
Partners Group declined to comment.