Keppel Capital, with capital backing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has now raised $570m (€526m) for its Asia infrastructure fund.
The manager said the commitments to the Keppel Asia Infrastructure Fund, which is seeking to raise $1bn, include a $100m to the fund, as well as a co-investment sleeve of up to $50m from AIIB.
DJ Pandian, AIIB investment operations vice president, said: “With this investment, AIIB will be able to diversify the geographical and sectoral coverage of its equity portfolio across AIIB members while influencing positively the investment policies and environmental and social management system of the fund manager.
“By catalysing other institutional investors’ involvement into the fund and generating debt financing opportunities for infrastructure investors through the fund’s equity investments, AIIB will help mobilize private capital for infrastructure.”
With the second closing and AIIB’s impending commitments, the fund and its co-investment vehicles will achieve total aggregate capital commitments of $570m, Keppel Capital said.
The fund achieved its first closing in late January this year and has, together with its co-investment vehicles, subsequently acquired a 30% interest in the Gimi Floating Liquefied Natural Gas facility, which is currently undergoing conversion at Keppel Offshore & Marine in Singapore.
Christina Tan, CEO of Keppel Capital, said: “The momentum of the Keppel Asia Infrastructure Fund and its ability to attract quality investors, amongst the likes of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, is a testament to the strength of the fund’s value propositions.”
With the ongoing monetary easing and fiscal stimuli in many countries, eventually, when growth is restored, there may be a high risk of inflation, necessitating the need for real assets with long term stable cash flows, Tan said.
“The COVID-19 crisis gives rise to dislocations in the marketplace, creating opportunities for the Fund to invest in businesses with high growth potential.”
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