The Decade: past

The consortium is on track to recoup its $1.15bn investment by 2021 – just 12 years after being awarded a 75-year lease to operate the city’s on-street meters. But it still can’t shake the stigma of a bad PPP. 

Blackstone’s modest $200m first close in 2010 was vastly overshadowed by the $14bn it raised for its relaunched vehicle in 2019. Now KKR, Carlyle and Apollo are also eyeing the asset class hungrily. 

The former Allianz Capital Partners CEO’s prediction of growing public opposition to private ownership of infrastructure was spot on, though he might have been surprised at the extent to which he’d be proved right. 

CalSTRS’ $500m commitment to IFM Investors was 2012’s largest allocation to an infra vehicle and offered a taste of the fundraising heights to come. 

The European renewables subsidy flip-flops earlier in the decade foreshadowed a market transition that is now playing out in full. 

Mexico’s 2014 energy reforms were historic, but the aftermath demonstrated the hand of politics in infrastructure. 

Having ‘emerged’ in 2015, infrastructure’s mid-market is now thriving. But this brings its own challenges. 

The Australian government’s decision to block two Chinese bids for Ausgrid drew a line in the sand for the land Down Under. 

GIP closed the largest-ever unlisted infrastructure vehicle on $15.8bn, thus foreshadowing the following year’s record fundraising. 

Following a growth spurt in 2016-17, there are signs the market might be overheating. But demand is expected to remain strong as countries address the challenges. 

With ever-increasing scrutiny of corporate behaviour and calls for greater diversity, the industry is grappling with how to invest responsibly.