Pioneer Point Partners (Pioneer), a specialist infrastructure investment firm, has held the EUR150 million first close target of its maiden institutional fund, Pioneer Infrastructure Partners SCSp.
The first close has been supported by five European and North American institutions. The Fund is seeking to raise total capital commitments of EUR500 million and is targeting a 15-plus per cent IRR.
The fund will be deployed in line with Pioneer’s historically successful lower mid-market, value-add infrastructure strategy in the energy transition and environment sectors across Western Europe. Pioneer has previously committed nearly EUR900 million of equity across nine investments on a deal-by-deal basis, delivering superior risk-adjusted returns.
Pioneer is particularly proud of achieving this first close target in December 2020 with strong institutional backing, having started pre-marketing in February 2020 and set against a backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This successful fundraise which attracted several highly reputable and long established infrastructure investors, is a testament to Pioneer’s key differentiators. These include the experience of the team, with the four founding Partners having over 90 years’ private equity experience across Europe alone; the sector specialisation which enables a thematic research-driven origination strategy, identifying sub-sectors poised for growth ahead of others; and Pioneer’s private equity toolkit, facilitating flexible deal creation, with a particular focus on platform investments, to create long-term, core infrastructure assets.
Pioneer believes the market opportunity remains unprecedented, with trillions of euros of investment required in sustainable infrastructure across Europe that will drive the shift towards climate neutrality by 2050. Investment in the energy transition and environment sectors will be central to this and has been accelerated by Covid-19. The drivers of change remain highly complex, however, Pioneer has the sector specialism to navigate this landscape and, with its differentiated strategy, is well positioned to develop and maximise the growing interest in and support for the energy transition and environment sectors.
The success of Pioneer’s disciplined, sector specialisation and value-add strategy is demonstrated in its strong track record. This includes Nature Energy, a leading green gas producer in Denmark; Brockwell Energy, which owns a number of Energy-from-Waste and onshore wind projects in Scotland, and SR Investimenti, an independent platform building, owning and operating solar PV assets in Italy.
The Pioneer team was advised by Cotton Ginsberg Capital Partners, which acted as placement agent, and Fried Frank, which acted as legal counsel.
None of the statements herein is an offer to sell securities of the Fund in the United States. Securities of the Fund are offered and sold in the United States only on a private placement basis pursuant to an exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933.
