DWS has raised an initial €323m for its infrastructure debt strategy, targeting senior infrastructure debt investments in sustainable assets across continental Europe.
The manager said the ESG Infrastructure Debt Strategy (EIDS), which secured commitments from institutional investors across EMEA and Asia-Pacific, is aiming to raise €500m to €750m.
The fund’s €323m first close included €120m in a master vehicle and €200m in a side-car vehicle focused solely on energy transition debt investments.
EIDS targets a gross return of 5.5-6.5% per annum and an annual distribution of 5-6%. The fund is DWS’s second European senior infrastructure debt strategy, following the deployment of over €850m in the first vintage, the manager said.
Sundeep Vyas, head of infrastructure debt Europe at DWS, said: “Infrastructure debt as an asset class continues to draw strong investor interest due to good risk-adjusted returns, attractive illiquidity premiums and a strong pipeline of investment opportunities.”
Benjamin Schmitt, director of infrastructure debt at DWS, said: “The second iteration of our European senior debt strategy enables institutional investors to invest into a diversified portfolio of debt investments offering stable yield income, downside protection as well as supporting the build-up of resilient and sustainable infrastructure in Europe.
“We would like to thank our clients who supported us with the first close and look forward to scaling up the strategy to its target size.”
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