The BlackRock headquarters in New York. Photo by Michael Nagle /Bloomberg
BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners is close to raising roughly $25 billion for its latest flagship fund, a sum that would make it one of the largest in the infrastructure industry, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners is close to raising roughly $25 billion for its latest flagship fund, a sum that would make it one of the largest in the infrastructure industry, according to people familiar with the matter.
The GIP Fund V is expected to reach its initial target of $25 billion by the final close, which is due in the coming weeks, the people said. At that size, the fund would rival a similar vehicle of Brookfield Asset Management that in December 2023 raised $28 billion and remains the biggest in the industry.
GIP in 2019 raised about $22 billion for its fourth flagship fund, which it has since invested. Deliberations are ongoing and the amount raised for the GIP Fund V could exceed its target, depending on the final commitments, the people said. A representative for GIP declined to comment.
The latest fundraising success would come months after BlackRock acquired GIP for $12.5 billion to create a infrastructure investing powerhouse, betting on continued demand for these assets from investors including insurers and sovereign wealth funds.
That deal kicked off an almost $30-billion deal spree over the past year by BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink to refashion the world’s largest asset manager into a bigger player in private assets, and diversify away from the company’s longtime focus on stocks and bonds in the public market.
The new fund also underscores GIP’s ambitions on digging deeper into energy, transportation and digital assets as investors flock to major players for more reliable returns. Led by GIP’s founding partner Adebayo Ogunlesi, the infrastructure investor manages about $170 billion in assets and its equity portfolio companies generate combined annual revenue of $71 billion, its website shows.
Fundraising in the infrastructure sector has been difficult in the last couple of years despite the fact that it typically provides more stable and predictable returns compared with the broader alternative asset management segment. Globally, infrastructure funds raised $95 billion last year, according to data provider Preqin. While that was more than the $94 billion raised in 2023, it was less than the $142 billion annual average from 2018 through 2022.
GIP began raising the fifth flagship fund before BlackRock completed buying out the firm in October. GIP’s funds have typically preferred large-scale investments in assets whose operations executives think they can improve.
Source : financialpost.com
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