Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC), a US middle-market infrastructure manager, announced it has successfully concluded the fundraising of its inaugural Infrastructure Growth Fund. This fund raised over $370 million in commitments, surpassing the initial target size of $350 million.
The fund received strong demand from existing OIC investors that accounted for over 80% of the capital raised while adding new investors from Europe and North America. The investors included insurance companies, pension funds, foundations, and family offices.
OIC has seen momentum in the early deployment of the fund, already allocating over 60% of commitments across a diversified initial portfolio of six investments.
This includes:
— Subsea Environmental Services – Focuses on recovering out-of-service submarine telecommunication cables and recycling their constituent parts.
— Occurrent Power – A tidal power developer/operator that designs and manufactures vessels to generate electricity.
— Forge Nano – Uses an innovative process called atomic layer deposition to improve performance, efficiency, and safety of batteries.
— Gauzy – A market leader in the provision of SmartGlass for aerospace, automotive, and built environments.
— ZincFive – The primary global producer of nickel-zinc battery cabinets that serve as uninterruptible power supply for data centers.
— VEMO – An established clean mobility platform that provides customers with integrated EV solutions including financing, infrastructure, and fleet management.
From recycling deep sea cables to providing electric vehicle infrastructure, OIC’s growth debt strategy aims to address the dislocation of debt and equity capital solutions in growth stage infrastructure sectors across North America. And the strategy is highlighted by OIC’s proven ability to identify, partner, and generate value for investors with middle-market infrastructure businesses in a non-dilutive, non-controlling form.
OIC has built a dedicated team of 9 focused on the growth debt strategy, while hiring an additional 15 new people across the wider firm in the last 12 months.
Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to OIC and the Fund.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support of our investors in launching this new strategy and helping us break through our $350 million fundraising target. There is an exceptional need for capital in the North American infrastructure middle-market, driven by a period of sustained innovation and a desire to rapidly decarbonize the economy. We know that our growth debt strategy is well placed to capitalize on these macro tailwinds, while generating a positive impact for society and delivering sustainable long-term returns to our investors.”
– Nazar Massouh, Co-founder and CEO of OIC
“Surpassing our initial fundraising target is incredibly pleasing and being over 60% committed at final close is testament to the excellent work of the team and the market opportunity we’re seeing. It’s exciting to be partnering with these fast growing and innovative businesses. They have the potential to rapidly change the industries in which they operate, and we feel privileged to support them as they do so.”
– Jeremy Glick, Head of Infrastructure Growth at OIC
