Pierfront holds second close of Asia real assets credit fund

Singapore-based Pierfront Capital has held a second close of its private credit vehicle with almost $500 million of commitments.

The fund, Keppel-Pierfront Private Credit Fund, raised $200 million at first close from Clifford Capital Holdings and Keppel Capital. It has gained an additional three institutional investors at second close, bringing the total to $455 million.

Investors have also committed a minimum of $237.5 million of capital to co-invest alongside the fund.

The second close backers were Alberta Investment Management Corporation, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and GCM Grosvenor on behalf of a separately managed account.

Keppel-Pierfront Private Credit will offer loans to companies with defensive “infrastructure-like” business models across real asset sectors in Asia-Pacific. Areas of investment will include renewable and core infrastructure, energy, transportation, communications, social infrastructure and logistics.

It has already committed $200 million across six transactions and has several additional deals in its pipeline.

Pierfront Capital chief executive Stéphane Delatte said: “[The second close is] a strong recognition of the growing opportunity set in Asia private credit, the uniqueness of our real asset-focused private credit strategy, our keen focus on ESG considerations in our investment process and the attractive risk-adjusted returns this strategy is able to generate.”

Pierfront previously raised a mezzanine fund with a similar strategy, which has committed $400 million across 15 investments, generating close to mid-teens returns.