By Pietro Lombardi
MADRID (Reuters) – Infrastructure investment firm White Summit Capital has secured commitments of more than 350 million euros ($360.7 million) for an infrastructure fund focused on decarbonisation and expects it to reach its 500 million euro target in coming months.
The fund will invest in smaller storage and renewable projects, as well as those aimed at decarbonising transportation and industries, managing partners Pablo Pallas and Gonzalo Lopez told Reuters on Thursday.
Depending on the deal flow, it can raise up to 750 million euros, they said.
With offices in locations including Switzerland, Spain and Britain, White Summit focuses on investments tied to the green transition. Its portfolio includes Spanish electric vehicle charger firm Zunder and Portuguese biomethane producer Ferbgas Renewable.
The fund will focus on middle-market infrastructure companies that need investments to grow, Lopez said, targeting “mid- to high-teens returns.”
He said most infrastructure funds had probably grown too large, and were shunning smaller deals which created “a huge amount of investment opportunities” for deals ranging between 25 million euros and 200 million euros.
Investors in the fund include the European Investment Fund, which has committed 150 million euros, plus other global asset managers and insurance companies.
While declining to disclose names, Pallas said that a U.S. fund manager committed 50 million euros, while two Spanish family offices make up around 10% of the committed money.
White Summit is eyeing a second close in the second quarter and is in talks with Canadian, U.S. and European firms.
Some 40% of the projects the company wants to include in its portfolio will be in the Iberian region, the rest will be in Western European countries.
The firm has already clinched two deals – Powesco, an energy efficiency specialist in France and an Iberian hybridisation and renewable integration platform – which Pallas and Lopez believe validate their strategy.
“Investors want to see the deals, they just don’t want to sign a blind check and see what you do the next two years,” Pallas said.
($1 = 0.9704 euros)
(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi. Editing by Jane Merriman)
