DIF raises €1.15 billion for DIF Infrastructure IV

DIF, an independent fund manager established in 2005, has reached final closing for its fund DIF Infrastructure IV at €1.15 billion (US$1.29 billion).

DIF Infrastructure IV had a swift fund raise after formally launching the fundraising process in May 2015. A first closing was realized 28 July 2015 at €825 million and now with a second and final closing at 28 September 2015. Commitments were largely from European investors but also included North American and Asian institutional investors. The hard cap of €1.1 billion was raised to €1.15 billion to accommodate the strong demand from existing and new investors.

DIF Infrastructure IV has a similar investment strategy to DIF Infrastructure III and will target investments in projects with long term stable cash flows, principally public private partnerships (PPP) and renewable energy projects. As with its previous funds, DIF Infrastructure IV will focus on both primary and secondary investment opportunities, a strategy which enables DIF to generate an attractive immediate yield for its investors, while also achieving capital growth. The fund targets investments in Europe, North America and Australia. The manager opened its Sydney office in June 2015 and expects to close its first Australian investment in October 2015.

Wim Blaasse, Managing Partner of DIF comments:

“The speed of the fundraising and the appetite among investors evidences the credibility of our track record and investors’ confidence in our strategy. Both our existing and new investors worked very hard to achieve a quick closing to enable DIF, as a manager, to make the first commitments for the fund. While most of the new money is raised from European institutions, we are pleased that we expanded our investor base to include North American and Asian investors which will support our growing global strategy. Our investors are all seeking relatively low risk stable yielding assets and solid returns managed by an experienced manager with a proven track record.”

DIF is currently preferred bidder or in exclusive discussions for a number of transactions in various countries in both the PPP and renewable energy sectors with a total investment of circa €250 million. DIF Infrastructure IV closed its first transaction, an investment in the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, at the end of August 2015.