Sweden’s fourth national pensions buffer fund, AP4, has invested SEK900m (€90m) in a Nordic infrastructure fund run by Infranode.
Infranode said the fund — its first — had raised SEK4.45bn by the final close, with AP4 coming in at the last stage of fundraising to join other Nordic investors.
In April, the fund, which invests in “essential infrastructure in the Nordics in the energy, transport, telecom and social infrastructure sectors”, had raised a total of SEK3.55bn after Finnish insurer LocalTapiola made a capital commitment, according to Infranode.
The figures published by Infranode imply that AP4’s investment totalled SEK900m, although the company declined to confirm the amount.
Other investors in the fund are Sweden’s Folksam and its pension fund subsidiary KPA Pension, along with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and IMAS Foundation, a sister foundation to the INGKA Foundation, which is the indirect owner of IKEA.
Infranode has so far made two investments in Sweden and one in Norway.
Christian Doglia, a founding partner at Infranode, said: “In the Nordic region, there is a significant investment need in infrastructure that is expected to exceed €200bn over the next 10 years.”
He said Infranode was a flexible investor and could consider ownership stakes from 10% up to 100%.
It could also engage in time-limited ownership through, for example, a concession or a possible repurchase, he said.
Philip Ajina, another founding partner, said the public understood that Infranode could invest in ways that did not make them lose ownership of their infrastructure.
“Further, we have noticed that the public sector welcomes us as an investor since we invest both state and municipal pension capital,” he said.
“Our desire is to contribute to a more sustainable and stronger society in the Nordics through long-term investments in essential infrastructure.”
Infranode was set up in partnership with Nordic real estate manager Areim.
