Andrew Claerhout, the former head of infrastructure at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTTP), has joined Searchlight Capital Partners.
Searchlight said it has appointed Claerhout as a partner, alongside existing Searchlight partner Darren Glatt, to lead infrastructure investments in North America and Europe.
Glatt, who has been with the company for seven years, will continue to be involved in the firm’s private equity investments in media and other sectors.
Claerhout spent nearly 13 years at OTTP, where he most recently lead the Canadian pension fund’s $18bn (€16.2bn) infrastructure and natural resources business.
At OTTP, Claerhout was also responsible for establishing and leading the London office and developing private capital’s strategy in EMEA.
He left OTTP in February last year and joined The Boston Consulting Group a month after as a senior advisor, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Commenting on his appointment, Claerhout said: “I am particularly excited to join Searchlight, as I believe a value-add infrastructure strategy will be highly complementary to the types of opportunities pursued by their existing private equity and opportunities funds.”
Claerhout said Searchlight plans to start evaluating investment opportunities immediately and will target companies with strong infrastructure attributes that can be grown, improved and repositioned before exit.
He will continue to be based in Toronto but travel frequently to New York and London.
Glatt said: “We will now have the mandate to increase the breadth of opportunity in those same sectors, and we look forward to extending our strong track record of investing with owners and management teams to enhance value.”
Erol Uzumeri, a founding partner of Searchlight Capital Partners, said: “Claerhout’s considerable experience and successful track record investing in infrastructure across geographies make him a valuable addition to our team.
”We believe the increased infrastructure capabilities will further enhance our existing investment activities.”
