Investors put €3.5bn into third Copenhagen infrastructure fund

PensionDanmark, Haringey Pension Fund and 40 other institutional investors have put a total of €3.5bn into the latest infrastructure fund from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

The fundraising for the energy infrastructure fund, CI III, hit its hard-cap target at final close on March 23, the partnership announced.

The 42 investors comprised pension companies, insurance companies, family offices and asset managers, it said.

They included investors like North-Rhine Westphalia lawyers’ pension fund (Versorgungswerk der Rechtsanwälte in Nordrhein-Westfalen), PBU, JØP, DIP, Nordea Fonden, PFA and AP Pension.

SEB Pension DK, SEB Pension SE, Lærernes Pension, Oslo Pensjonsforsikring, KLP, Townsend on behalf of a UK pension fund were also part of the investors that joined in.

Jakob Baruël Poulsen, managing partner at CIP, said: “CI III broadens CIP’s investor base to include a diverse range of investors in Australia, Asia, continental Europe, UK, and Israel, which complements the primarily Nordic investors in the predecessor funds.”

Nearly all existing investors in the previous fund, CI II, had gone on to commit new funds to CI III, he said.

Last July, the Danish fund manager reported €1.9bn of commitments for CI II in a third close, and at that point hoped to reach €3bn by the end of the year.

The new fund was formed to invest mainly in projects in regulated and long-term contracted energy infrastructure, the firm said.

It described CI III’s investment pipeline as strong, and said it included ownership or exclusivity rights to more than 15 projects currently being developed.

“The portfolio amounts to around €3bn in potential investment volume and provides diversification across offshore wind, onshore wind, solar PV, biomass/waste-to-energy, geothermal, and reserve capacity in North America, Northwestern Europe and Asia Pacific,” CIP said.

The fund’s investment strategy would be a continuation of that of the previous fund, it said.

CIP was formed five years ago, with PensionDanmark as its founding investor.