Zak Bentley
Zak Bentley is a senior reporter at Infrastructure Investor based in London. Zak joined Infrastructure Investor in 2016 from Centaur where he was a reporter at their Clean Energy Pipeline title.
He has a detailed knowledge and experience of the financial and regulatory aspects of the global renewable energy market, as well as the wider infrastructure market.
Zak has a degree in English and History from the University of Birmingham.
Once considered a niche by both infra and private debt investors, infra debt has become an important part of how LPs allocate.
The Global Infrastructure Debt Fund, BlackRock’s first comingled fund targeting high-yield debt, had raised about $250m before the pandemic.
The Dutch manager has split the fund into a sub-fund structure, targeting €750m for senior debt and €350m for junior debt.
If today’s crisis were a repeat of the GFC, lenders could use those references to guide their approach, but covid-19 has brought the world into uncharted territory.
Tom Sumpster’s departure comes after LGIM’s attempts to expand its infra strategy beyond senior debt hit roadblocks.
The fund, which had a target of $1bn, attracted investors who were all new to the firm's debt platform.
The firm has already raised €500m from European investors and will now pitch the vehicle to Australian LPs.
The investment in a 5GW UK renewables portfolio is a first of its kind for MIDIS and it “definitely sees this as the first of more to come”, Tom van Rijsewijk tells Infrastructure Investor.
The French manager is already targeting the launch of its fifth instalment this year, with the fund 65% invested.
The Dutch firm has put London-based partner Paul Nash, who has been with DIF since 2008, in charge of the strategy.
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