Aquila Capital has launched a €500m vehicle to invest in infrastructure assets and funds.
The Hamburg-based investment manager said the AIFMD-regulated vehicle would invest over the next two years in unlisted and listed global infrastructure, as well as existing assets held by the company.
Christian Brezina, head of fund investments, private equity and infrastructure, told IPE Real Estate the vehicle was aimed at smaller institutional investors and high net worth individuals in German-speaking countries.
“It’s a part of the investment spectrum that is currently under-serviced,” he said. “This is demand-driven, after clients approached us saying they wanted to access the asset class.”
Brezina said many of the fund’s investors were new to the infrastructure sector.
The fund, which has a targeted 7% IRR, will invest across the renewable energy, communication, transport and waste sectors, with approximately 70% of the fund’s investment being in unlisted funds.
The fund is “brownfield-orientated”, he said, with a defensive approach on the asset side and a focus on stable revenues from regulated entities.
Around 15% of the fund’s capital will hold stocks, which Brezina said would offer investors liquidity.
“This should help transform what is a long-term product into a partly liquid product,” he said.
Brezina said most of the fund’s investments would be in Europe, where Aquila Capital has previously invested in hydropower with APG.
Aquila last year targeted European institutional investors for the 20-year fund.
Earlier last year, Aquila invested in 33 hydropower assets in Norway for APG.
