Smart City Infrastructure Fund (SCIF), an APG-backed fund managed by Patrizia’s infrastructure arm, has bought Italian smart streetlighting company Ottima.
Patrizia Infrastructure said the acquisition of Ottima – which includes an initial payment for the deal and planned growth capex – marks SCIF’s debut investment in Europe. Financial details were undisclosed.
Founded in 2013, Ottima works in partnership with small to medium-sized municipalities across the country to design, install, retrofit, finance and manage smart streetlighting points. Ottima’s services also include the provision of public wifi, smart traffic lights, CCTV monitoring, electric vehicle charging stations, solar panels and smart building technology.
Matteo Andreoletti, the head of infrastructure equity, Europe and North America at Patrizia, said: “Our investment in Ottima addresses the global megatrend of decarbonisation by improving energy efficiency. We see this as a strategic opportunity for Patrizia to acquire a well-established yet highly scalable smart city platform that has the power to drive significant economic and ESG benefits for communities across Italy.
“Not only does this investment perfectly support our strategic position as an enabler of smart cities and buildings through targeted real asset investments, it also provides our institutional clients with attractive risk-adjusted returns and excellent growth potential.”
Dario Strano, country head for Italy at Patrizia, said: “This opportunity is yet another example of strategic and thoughtful investments that drive benefits for communities here in Italy, which continues to be a key market for our growth ambitions.”
Since June this year, Patrizia has invested around €190m in Italy spanning both real estate and infrastructure, Strano said.
Patrizia’s recent deals include the manager’s entry into the Italian student housing market with a €70m investment in Turin and investing €75m on behalf of its European Infrastructure Fund II fund to buy Italian bio-liquified natural gas producer Biomet.
“And this is yet another example of how real estate and infrastructure are highly complementary and additive as assets, giving us full confidence that we will continue to grow as a real assets player,” Strano said.
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