Macquarie raises €1.2 billion for sub-investment grade infrastructure debt strategy

Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (“MIDIS”) has today announced that it has raised approximately €1.2 billion from institutional investors to invest in sub-investment grade infrastructure debt.

MIDIS raised approximately €730 million for the strategy via Macquarie Infrastructure Debt (Sub-Investment Grade) Fund (the “Fund”) exceeding its initial fundraising target of €500 million. An additional €425 million was raised to invest alongside the fund through separately managed accounts and for co-investments.

Institutional investors have increased their allocations to sub-investment grade infrastructure debt in recent years, recognising the typically stable nature of infrastructure asset revenue streams and strong protections in place for lenders when compared with similarly rated corporate debt. Investors have also been attracted to the superior risk-adjusted returns and portfolio diversification benefits offered by the defensive asset class.

Tim Humphrey, Co-Head of MIDIS, said; “We would like to thank all our returning and new investors for the confidence they have shown in our ability to navigate the current investment landscape. We have been delighted by the support we have received for our sub-investment grade strategy and look forward to deploying the remainder of the fund’s capital in high quality assets supporting the sustainable development of communities and economies.”

The strategy is currently invested across the utilities, energy, renewables, and transport infrastructure sectors. The strategy’s portfolio is comprised of debt investments in 14 high quality borrowers in the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, Finland, and the Netherlands with an average internal rating of BB-. Three co-investments have been structured alongside the strategy. The majority of assets were negotiated on a bilateral basis and sourced through MIDIS’ proprietary channels.

The strategy attracted interest from a diverse pool of investors, with 21 pension funds and insurance companies committing to the strategy from the United Kingdom, Korea, Japan, Italy, and Portugal. Fund Investors were able to invest across either a Global Class or European Class.

Today’s announcement underlines the continued fundraising momentum across the MIDIS platform. In June, MIDIS announced that it had raised more than £2.7 billion for its UK inflation-linked infrastructure debt strategy. MIDIS also announced the final close of its Macquarie Global Infrastructure Debt Fund in March, having raised $US645 million from investors.