Edmond de Rothschild closes fourth infra debt fund on €1.25bn

Edmond de Rothschild has closed its fourth infrastructure debt fund on €1.25 billion, exceeding its original target of €750 million by 60 percent.

The French asset manager launched BRIDGE IV in April 2018 with a dual sub-fund strategy, with one sub-fund targeting about €500 million for senior debt investments only in the energy transition space, while the second junior debt sub-fund, which invests in infrastructure more broadly, had a target of about €250 million.

However, the vehicle concluded by raising €800 million for the senior debt tranche and €450 million for the junior debt sub-fund. The senior debt strategy is targeting 200 basis points-plus over base rate, while the junior debt fund targets returns between 5 and 7 percent.

The LP base was broadly European, with a club of South Korean and one Japanese investor committing to the vehicle, Edmond de Rothschild’s global head of infrastructure and chief investment officer for the fund Jean-Francis Dusch told PDI‘s sister title, Infrastructure Investor.

He declined to name specific projects the fund had backed, although he said it has invested in light rail, renewable energy generation including biomass, waste, fibre broadband, telecom towers, data centres, utilities, and healthcare across France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Scandinavia and the Baltics. It also has capacity to invest in OECD countries outside Europe.

In addition to its track record and team’s experience, Dusch attributed the success of the fundraising down to access to proprietary deals and “credit and structuring rigour”. With BRIDGE IV now over 65 percent invested, the firm plans to launch a successor fund later this year.

“We will seek to match or exceed the achievements of BRIDGE IV as we have a very ambitious long-term plan,” Dusch said.