The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is among investors in a £500m (€567m) infrastructure bond investment in the UK led by Allianz Global Investors.

The 32-year bond relates to the recent acquisition of the M6 toll road in England by infrastructure fund manager IFM Investors.

The M6, the UK’s only toll motorway, was sold by a group of lenders that took control of the asset in 2013 from Macquarie. 

Allianz Global Investors said it is investing on behalf of a number of Allianz Group companies and third-party clients, through both separate accounts and a UK pooled fund.

The investment means its UK infrastructure debt fund is now fully invested. It plans to launch a second vehicle.

It is also the first time that the £23.4bn PPF has invested in infrastructure debt alongside Allianz Global Investors.

Adrian Jones, portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors, said: “The M6 toll road, an essential infrastructure asset with a long operating history, represents exactly the sort of asset our clients look to invest in.”

He added: “This transaction is particularly noteworthy for Allianz Global Investors as it represents the culmination of over a year’s work by a large number of our team working from both Paris and London.

“It is our largest UK investment to date and it completes the investment phase of Fund 1.”