Ardian raises $20bn to power essential European infrastructure
Ardian, a world-leading investment firm, today announces it has raised $20 billion for its latest flagship infrastructure platform set to invest predominantly in Europe. It is Ardian’s largest infrastructure platform to date, composed of Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI (AIF VI), which reached its hard cap of $13.5bn (€11.5bn), and co-investments alongside the fund. AIF VI is 90% larger than the previous generation, Ardian Infrastructure Fund V (AIF V) , demonstrating growing investor interest and the strength of Ardian’s differentiated strategy.
The successful fundraise cements Ardian’s position as an international leader in essential infrastructure, with its unique investment approach and strong track record, offering one of the most stable and consistent platforms in the market. The fund will continue Ardian’s strategy, developed over two decades, of combining an industrial approach with investment expertise across three verticals that are powering the future and supporting Europe’s competitiveness: energy, transport and digital infrastructure.
Despite a challenging fundraising environment which has seen infrastructure funds raise over longer periods of time than prior years, AIF VI was raised in two years with an increase of 90% on the previous generation.
The fund attracted strong interest from both existing and new investors across the globe, with commitments from 229 limited partners (LPs) in Europe, North America, APAC and the Middle East. The fund saw the biggest increase in commitments from investors in the United States, with the number of US investors more than doubling and accounting for 14% of capital raised, up from $1bn in AIF V.
This comes amid growing US investor appetite for investing in Europe. Asian investors also showed strong interest, accounting for 32% of the capital raised, including many key Australian investors for the first time.
The number of investors in AIF VI doubled compared to AIF V. Investors having re-upped into AIF VI increased their commitments in average by c.40%.
Ardian has $47 billion in assets under management (AUM) for its infrastructure strategy covering the European and American essential infrastructure market as well as thematic funds related to the energy transition. The team counts 80 investment professionals who work with a strong network of operating partners. Ardian’s strong, multi-local team includes a market-leading data science capability, which has led to the development of proprietary Ardian tools including OPTA, which uses data to optimize the performance of wind assets, and Ardian AirCarbon, a proprietary emission quantification and reduction tool for the aviation industry.
AIF VI has already successfully deployed more than 40% of its capital, including in landmark infrastructure assets like London Heathrow Airport – Europe’s largest airport – where Ardian is the largest shareholder. Building on Ardian’s expertise in airports, the team, together with Finint Infrastrutture announced the signing of the agreement for the joint indirect acquisition of Venice Airport.
Additional AIF VI investments include:
• Verne: A UK-headquartered data center platform, powered entirely by decarbonised energy.
• Attero: a leading European waste management and circular economy platform, which is currently developing a 640 kilo-tonnes per annum of carbon capture and storage project on its Moerdijk plant.
• Akuo: a pioneer in the renewable energy sector, specializing in wind power, photovoltaics and storage, with 1.9GW of installed capacity across Europe.
• Energia Group: one of the largest energy utilities on the island of Ireland serving almost 900,000 homes and businesses.
“More than ever, clients expect from us high absolute returns decorrelated from financial market. Amid Ardian’s continued strong performance, this milestone fundraise reflects the success of our differentiated strategy that we have applied consistently since inception 20 years ago. We have expanded into new geographies while maintaining a clear and selective focus on essential and capital intensive assets in three key sectors: energy, transport and digital infrastructure. Our asset management approach is precise: value creation must come from operational improvement, not market cycles. In a market that rewards clarity and conviction, our approach has stood the test of time, and our strategy remains consistent, differentiated and rooted in a long-term view to create value.” Mathias Burghardt, Executive Vice-President, CEO of Ardian France and Head of Infrastructure, Ardian.
“The scale and speed of this fundraise highlights not only the market-leading position of Ardian’s Infrastructure team, but also the attractiveness of the asset class, offering resilience in a world that is anything but predictable. We continue to see strong confidence around the world, particularly in European infrastructure as a standout asset class, with a notable increase in interest among investors outside of Europe, especially the US and APAC. Investors that have a track record of applying industry expertise to deliver value creation are winning in this environment.
“We would like to thank our investors for their continued support and new LPs for their trust, which has allowed us to more than double the size of our platform.” Jan Philip Schmitz, Executive Vice-President and Head of Investor Relations, Ardian.
About Ardian
Ardian is a world-leading private investment firm, managing or advising $192bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,860 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. Private Wealth Solutions offers dedicated services and access solutions for private banks, family offices and private institutional investors worldwide. Ardian’s main shareholding group is its employees and we place great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 1,050+ employees, spread across 20 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Middle East are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility.
At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.
