Australia

An IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange is expected by the end of the year for First State, which is still fundraising for its second European infrastructure fund.

Grant Dooley will lead the real estate investment manager’s newly established infrastructure arm as CEO and plans to launch a debut fund by Q3 this year.

The clean energy financier is investing over $110m in IFM’s Australian infrastructure fund to cut carbon emissions of the assets in its $9.3bn portfolio.

The super fund is paying around $77m to acquire a stake in Bright Energy Investments, a 210MW portfolio of wind and solar assets in West Australia.

The $18.5bn public pension fund recently approved commitments of up to $50 million each to IFM Global Infrastructure Fund and to JPMorgan Infrastructure Investments Fund.

More than 20 LPs are backing the 10-year vehicle, which closed on its hard-cap.

The Australian fund manager has sold EcogenEnergy, an asset that has generated a 12%-plus return.

The Australian asset manager will lose control of The Infrastructure Fund on 31 March with Utilities Trust of Australia termination date to follow in coming months.

The UK-based manager plans to build a portfolio Down Under after opening a hub in the city and is also looking to expand in Europe, with both separate from its London-listed fund.

The infrastructure and agriculture advisor has poached Andrew Polson from MyState, who will take the helm in May.