Alternative investment adviser Jacmel Partners has launched an infrastructure investment platform, Jacmel Infrastructure.
It will target critical infrastructure projects and operating platforms, primarily in the transportation, energy, social and digital sectors.
Jacmel has appointed infrastructure industry veteran Mike Salzman as operating partner for the new platform. Salzman, who served as a senior adviser to Jacmel Partners in the creation and launch of the platform, has joined the firm to help source, underwrite and execute future infrastructure investments.
Jacmel Infrastructure is focused on providing capital and supporting projects alongside developers, investors and state and local governments, acting as a strategic partner in the rapidly expanding sector. The strategy will focus on North American investments through diversified investment structures, including public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Jacmel is led by co-managing partners Nick Jean-Baptiste and Jorge Mora, both of whom have extensive experience in private transactions and leveraged finance over their careers, including overlapping tenures at Macquarie Group.
Most recently, Jacmel has focused on building operating platforms that deliver infrastructure and IT solutions. Jacmel’s acquisition of Arora Engineers, a leading infrastructure engineering services platform, was pivotal in the firm’s expansion into infrastructure, with Arora having supported more than $23bn of infrastructure projects. Additionally, Jacmel Infrastructure has closed on one transaction and is expected to announce significant deals in the coming months, the company said.
Jean-Baptiste said: “Working with Jorge, Mike and our team to build Jacmel Infrastructure has been incredibly rewarding and the natural next step in Jacmel’s evolution.
“When we founded Jacmel in 2015, we knew we wanted to deliver value, capital and an executable impact plan to privately held businesses. Through our deep due diligence and long-term relationships with municipalities and infrastructure authorities, we are well positioned to seize the substantial opportunity across the infrastructure market – particularly the shortfall in private firms operating in the sector who appreciate the nuances and mirror the cultural differences of local government and its constituents.
“Over the past 18 months, we’ve carefully and intentionally built a platform to make a meaningful impact through private investment in North American infrastructure projects and operating companies, and Mike has been an important partner in our launch.”
Salzman is an experienced infrastructure investor with more than two decades of expertise in structuring, financing and delivering large-scale developments, including PPPs.
Mora said: “In working with Mike, we’ve been able to take our team’s investment and operational expertise across the infrastructure, information and tech-enabled business services, and create a systematic, value-added approach to investing in large-scale infrastructure projects. We know there is a desire for infrastructure investors and local partners to reflect and understand the cultures of local governments and the communities these projects are serving.
“Given the strong bipartisan support for infrastructure investing, combined with broader macro tailwinds and an increasing desire for diverse representation across key markets, we could not be more excited to unveil this new chapter for our firm.”
Salzman said: “In more than a year of collaboration with Jacmel as a senior advisor, it became abundantly clear to me how unique the firm’s approach is to its investments and partnerships, and how passionate they are in cultivating meaningful relationships and making a difference in local communities.
“Within infrastructure markets, investing with empathy and insight is a prerequisite, and Jacmel has consistently found ways to leverage its networks to gain early access to opportunities while also taking a holistic approach to underwriting and risk management through the team’s collective experiences. I am honored to have the opportunity to help build out Jacmel Infrastructure with Nick and Jorge, and utilise the firm’s collective expertise to deliver value to investors, employees, passengers and community members alike.”
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