Blackstone’s infrastructure fund has invested an undisclosed amount in one of the world’s largest marine terminal operators.
The US manager said funds affiliated with Blackstone Infrastructure Partners (BIP) have made a “growth-oriented investment” in Carrix.
Founded in 1949, Carrix is the parent company of SSA Marine and its related affiliates with combined operations at over 250 port and rail locations worldwide, including 16 container terminals in Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma, Panama, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Vietnam.
Jon Hemingway, chairman of Carrix, said: ”Along with its affiliates, BIP brings an amazing network of highly skilled and experienced people, global relationships, expertise in a diverse array of businesses, and myriad capabilities to apply.
“When combined with our experience in the port industry and infrastructure development, we have substantially broadened what our shareholders and directors can do to support Carrix and its management team.”
Sean Klimczak, the global head of infrastructure at Blackstone, said: “This platform investment fits well with our strategy of developing partnerships with industry leaders behind whom we can continue to invest additional capital for decades to come.”
Earlier this year, Blackstone announced its first transaction for its debut open-ended infrastructure fund which has support from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and is seeking to raise $40bn.
In July last year, Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, confirmed in an investor call, that it had raised $5bn for the fund, but had yet to reveal any specific investments made.
“We are now fully in deployment mode and are evaluating a pipeline of interesting opportunities,” Schwarzman said at the time.
