GIP and BlackRock complete $170bn marriage
And so it’s official. The $12.5 billion deal that shook up the industry at the start of this year is now complete, with the new platform to be branded Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock.
More importantly, it creates an infrastructure platform with $170 billion of assets under management across equity, debt and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Solutions business. Adebayo Ogunlesi, GIP’s chairman and CEO, will be appointed to BlackRock’s board of directors.
It may be a trillion dollar asset class already, but BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink told Bloomberg TV after the deal’s completion last week that the merger was “the dawning of infrastructure”, and he’s not banking on any public sector help.
“Infrastructure is a major component on how we stimulate growth and because of the breadth of the capital markets we don’t have to rely on federal spending or state spending. There is enough capital in the private sector that we will be able to fund these new projects,” he said.
$25 billion beckons in 2025, then.
Actis closes Asia climate fund on $560m
Actis has closed its Asia Climate Transition Fund, raising $560 million to invest in climate transition projects across Asia.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority served as anchor for the fund, which also attracted commitments of $75 million plus a co-investment sleeve of up to $25 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, $50 million from the Asian Development Bank and $40 million from the International Finance Corporation.
The fund will target investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and smart grid technologies, aiming to deploy between $100 million and $150 million in equity for each project.
The fund close came shortly before General Atlantic completed its acquisition of Actis, which will see Actis’s funds continue to operate under the Actis brand but also under the banner of GA’s sustainable infrastructure business.
The merger expands GA’s diversified investment platform to about $97 billion in assets under management.
A few more choice acquisitions could see the firm hit 12 digits before the 12 days of Christmas are done.
Gore Street, Itochu have grid expectations for storage fund
Renewable energy investor Gore Street Capital and Japanese conglomerate Itochu Corporation have completed fundraising for Japan’s first dedicated grid-scale energy storage fund.
The Tokyo Energy Storage Investment Limited Partnership, which reached an ¥8 billion ($55 million; €49 million) final close at the end of September, will focus on developing and operating battery storage facilities in Japan’s Kanto region.
Last year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government selected the Gore Street-Itochu joint venture as manager of its energy generation and storage fund.
In addition to public backing, the fund has attracted investors including the Bank of Yokohama, Honda Motor Co, Japan Post Holdings and Mitsubishi Estate Co.
The Japanese fund follows in the footsteps of Gore Street’s listed energy storage fund, which launched in 2018 and has a market cap of £302 million ($396 million; €359 million) as of August 2024.
It comes as Japan’s energy market evolves with new balancing services, a shift away from a business model dominated by fixed contracts, introduced this year.
Morgan Stanley to kill off its listed real assets funds
Kudos to London’s Citywire for digging up an SEC filing for Morgan Stanley and getting the ball rolling on what is a rather significant liquidation spree.
A source close to the manager confirms to The Pipeline that Morgan Stanley Investment Management is liquidating all of its listed real estate and infrastructure business by liquidating all listed real asset funds globally.
In the US, that means a total of nine funds with more than $700 million of assets. At least five funds are listed in Europe with a combined fund size of £2.9 billion ($3.8 billion; €3.5 billion).
The firm’s non-listed real estate and infrastructure funds are not affected.
According to the SEC filings, the liquidations will happen between 31 October and the end of the year.
On the non-listed front, the GP is in market with its North Haven Infrastructure Partners IV fund chasing $6 billion. The fund was launched in August 2022.
Grapevine
“As someone who has an energy transition background, I’m very familiar with things getting blown out of proportion and markets getting very excited about certain asset classes. It’s no different when it comes to the enthusiasm around AI-related infrastructure”
Pooja Goyal, a partner and chief investment officer in Carlyle’s infrastructure group, is wary about the clamour for AI-related infrastructure.
Who’s hiring
Tilstone ends 20-year career at Macquarie
Twenty years may not qualify as an era in the traditional sense, but it certainly can when it comes to infrastructure, considering how much the asset class has evolved and grown during that period.
“When I first started at Macquarie [Asset Management], the first part of every meeting was spent explaining who Macquarie were and what infrastructure investment entailed,” David Tilstone, who joined the firm in 2005 as head of renewables in EMEA, said in a LinkedIn post announcing his departure just three months before hitting the 20 year-mark.
In that role, which he held until 2022, Tilstone led a team involved in fundraising, origination and execution of new investments as well as asset management of the firm’s renewables portfolio, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In his most recent role – head of portfolio strategy, core renewables – he oversaw strategy and performance for MAM Green Investments’ suite of dedicated core renewables-focused funds.
Tilstone signed his post “over and out” but hinted he would be back in the market soon.
Meanwhile, The Pipeline has learned that Maks Dadej, a senior managing director within MAM Green Investments, will be succeeding Tilstone as head of portfolio strategy within the group.
Turner to the West
Michael Turner became CIM Group’s new managing director of investments on 2 October.
“CIM Group has an impressive infrastructure programme with significant investments in clean energy and data centre assets and businesses throughout North America,” Turner said in a release announcing his move. “I look forward to supporting the continued growth of the company’s infrastructure investments.”
Turner is leaving a role as managing director at BAES Infrastructure, part of Buckeye Partners, of Houston, Texas, for the Los Angeles-based CIM Group.
In the process he bucks the prevailing demographic trend of Californians heading to the Lone Star state, while bringing to the City of Angels his 16 years of experience including time at Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, Macquarie Group and years serving on the board of Swift Current Energy.
Jennifer Gandin, co-head of CIM Group’s Infrastructure Investment team, noted on the occasion of Turner’s start that he is part of intensified investment in expanding the infrastructure investment platform CIM has built out over the past 17 years.
Deals
Verizon passes Vertical Bridge the keys to the tower
Vertical Bridge has inked a $3.3 billion deal to acquire from Verizon the rights for a 10-year lease of 6,339 wireless communications towers owned by the carrier across the US.
The deal sees Vertical Bridge pay about $2.8 billion in cash upfront and have Verizon as an anchor tenant. In the future, the lease could be extended for up to 50 years.
CDPQ, an existing shareholder in Vertical Bridge since 2019, also provided financing in the transaction.
The deal will help Verizon cut costs and give Vertical Bridge the opportunity to lease up – adding new tenants to the existing towers – while maintaining its existing build-to-suit joint venture with Verizon.
Marc Ganzi, DigitalBridge CEO and vice-chairman of Vertical Bridge, said the deal “solidifies our leadership in the tower space” and “strategically positions us to capitalise on the growing demand for wireless infrastructure, especially as AI-driven technologies and 5G continue to reshape connectivity needs across industries”.