On Monday 11 January 2021, Quaero Capital completed its fundraising for Quaero European Infrastructure Fund II (QEIF II) at EUR 600 M (hard cap), exceeding the initial target of EUR 500M set at its launch in July 2019. The management company is also expecting additional investment capacity given the strong interest from investors for co-investment opportunities.
As a reminder, the fundraising for its previous EUR 275 M investment vehicle (QEIF) ended in April 2017 and the fund has since been fully invested.
QEIF II’s strategy is to finance equity in both greenfield and brownfield infrastructure projects in Europe. The fund targets project finance assets and notably assets with development and growth requirements with a view to support it. It deploys a multi-sectoral approach, investing in energy, telecoms, water and environment projects, social infrastructure, transport, and utilities.
QEIF II has already invested more than 40% of its commitments through 6 assets in 4 countries and several sectors: renewables (wind farms), telecoms (optic fiber networks, data centres), social infrastructures (schools PPP) and public services (electricity network).
“This success recognizes the renewed trust from QEIF’s investors as well as the support of new investors, in particular in Switzerland, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. These investors were convinced by the quality of the first fund, the assets already in the QEIF II portfolio and more generally by the performance of the infrastructure asset class.” said Sébastien Bourget, Managing Partner, in charge of the infrastructure activity at QUAERO CAPITAL.
QEIF II investors include leading European investors notably insurance companies, pension funds, funds of funds, the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites and the European Investment Bank.