Prostar reaches $300m for debut fund

Having held a first close on over $300 million, new fund manager Prostar Capital is now “actively looking at a number of opportunities” according to a statement released by the firm.

Prostar, an independent manager, is targeting opportunities in global energy, energy infrastructure and related sectors. It has offices in Sydney, Greenwich (Connecticut) and Singapore.

At the same time as the fund announcement, the firm has also unveiled two new hires to its senior investment team: Alan Young, the former head of natural resources and infrastructure for Australia and New Zealand at JP Morgan; and David Noakes, who was formerly at Grove International Partners, a global real estate private equity business.

These latest hires follow three other recent appointments: Ross Samchalk, who was at GE Energy Financial Services; Stuart Blackadder, formerly of UK private equity firm STAR Capital Partners; and Giacomo Gaetani from Minarco-MineConsult, an Asia Pacific mining and energy advisory firm.

Prostar is headed by Sydney-based chairman Greg Martin, the former chairman of Grant Samuel Infrastructure Partners and head of infrastructure at Challenger Financial Services as well as chief executive of the Australia Gas Light Company when it was Australia’s largest publicly listed downstream energy business.

Other key investment professionals include managing partner Steve Bickerton, former managing partner of Grant Samuel Infrastructure Partners, and partner John Troy, who was managing director of Hong Kong-based private equity firm TVG Capital Partners.

“The successful first close demonstrates the investor demand for investments in the global energy and energy infrastructure markets and the team intends to pursue the strategic opportunities in those markets,” said Martin in the statement.