Ardian closes fourth infrastructure fund

Ardian has raised, in a matter of months, €2.65 billion (US$2.88 billion) for its fourth infrastructure fund, Ardian Infrastructure Fund IV. It is the largest infrastructure fund ever raised by an European firm in term of size. Ardian Infrastructure now has circa US$7 billion assets under management.

As with Ardian’s previous infrastructure fund, which closed in 2013 at €1.75 billion, the latest fund will target infrastructure assets that are essential for the community across Europe, working alongside major industrial partners.

Circa €1 billion of the new fund has already been committed in 2015 across four high profile investments: 2i Aeroporti, the largest airport holding in Italy in April; the second largest Portuguese toll-roll network operator alongside Ascendi in July; Repsol’s stake in CLH, the largest Spanish and UK oil and storage transportation company in September; and Géosel, the French strategic oil storage and transportation and storage company acquired from Total in September.

The fund has attracted a diversified investor base of institutional investors; European, North American and Asian pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds. In particular, there was a breakthrough in take up from US investors, illustrating the attraction of the mature European infrastructure market.

Over €900m have been subscribed by new investors confirming the global reach of Ardian Infrastructure. Reups from the existing investor base exceeded the Fund III size, illustrating the support and satisfaction for Ardian’s infrastructure investment and asset management strategies.

Dominique Senequier, President of Ardian, said:

“Closing a fund which surpasses the size of its predecessor by 50% is a huge achievement for the Ardian Infrastructure team. The speed at which this process was conducted demonstrates the market recognition of the team, whilst the amount re-committed by existing investors lies as a testament to the performance of our Fund III.”

Mathias Burghardt, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian Infrastructure said:

“Raising a fund from such an internationally diversified group of investors indicates the dynamism of the European infrastructure market. Through Ardian Infrastructure IV, we will seek to invest in infrastructure assets that are essential for the community, particularly in the energy and transportation sectors, that will deliver long-term and reliable annual yields for investors.”

Ardian predicts that over the coming years, infrastructure assets will require more and more active asset management due to the disruptive effect of technology on the sector. Ardian has positioned itself to take advantage of this evolution by combining local expertise with a strong track record in active asset management so as to increase the utility of the assets it manages.