French civil service pension fund ERAFP has awarded a €150m infrastructure mandate and a €200m private equity mandate as part of a move to take up new investment freedoms granted by the government in late 2014.
The mandates were put out to tender early last year.
The infrastructure mandate was awarded to Ardian France and the private equity mandate to Access Capital Partners.
The €26bn pension fund placed the infrastructure mandate in the context of its aim to diversify by using “some of its long-term savings to develop sustainable assets that drive economic development and the energy transition and are useful to future generations”.
It is a mandate to invest in unlisted, vital, public infrastructure assets that are or will be built mainly in EU countries.
The risk approach should be moderate, with Ardian tasked with building a mixed greenfield and brownfield portfolio mainly through primary investments in new infrastructure funds or secondary investments in existing funds and, to a lesser degree, through direct investments and/or co-investments in contractors.
The private equity mandate also aims to diversify ERAFP’s investments, in this case by contributing to the financing of the French and European economies.
The mandate is for the creation of a dedicated fund that will invest primary in unlisted European mid-market companies through growth capital or buyout transactions.
It may also invest via mezzanine and unitranche financing but to a lesser degree.
The investments are to be made mainly through primary or secondary funds.
The fund will target investments in companies with a registered office in France, Germany, the Benelux countries, the UK, Finland, Sweden and/or Denmark.
Italy, Spain, Portugal or other OECD countries also come into question but to a lesser degree.
Both mandates are for an initial 10 years.
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