Washington, October 8, 2013—
IFC Asset Management Company, LLC (“AMC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), has today completed fundraising for its infrastructure equity fund, with a total of $1.2 billion raised, up from its target of $1 billion. The IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, LP (the “Fund”) has received capital commitments from 11 investors, comprising IFC and a Singapore sovereign wealth fund, GIC, as anchor investors, and 9 sovereign and pension fund investors from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
The Fund's mandate is to make equity and equity-related investments alongside IFC in a broad range of infrastructure sectors in developing countries. It will be managed by an AMC team based in Washington, D.C. and Singapore. The aim is to create a well-balanced portfolio diversified by region and by sub-sector, with investments in sectors that include power, transport, utilities and telecommunications. By leveraging IFC’s investment expertise, distinct transaction pipeline, and organizational networks, the Fund offers institutional investors a cost-efficient platform to make direct infrastructure investments in markets where barriers to entry and transaction costs for investors can be a significant deterrent.
At the same time, the Fund's existence allows IFC to expand its activities in infrastructure, a critical sector for its member countries and so often the bottleneck for achieving an enhanced growth trajectory. It supports the new World Bank Group strategy that calls for greater mobilization of the private sector as a central force in promoting economic growth and development.
“Poor infrastructure inhibits growth, improved infrastructure accelerates growth,” said Gavin Wilson, CEO of IFC Asset Management Company. “While infrastructure investing has grown in developed markets, it is still largely an orphaned asset class in many emerging regions. What is missing is long-term risk capital that understands where the growth opportunities lie and recognizes the need for well-structured investments that address the real risks involved, not simply the perceptions of risk. The Fund will help to fill this gap, taking advantage of the risk mismatch and benefiting from IFC’s extensive track record and expertise in such investments.”
Infrastructure is an area in which the private sector can have a substantial positive impact, providing capital, expertise and operating know-how so that essential services can be supplied to large numbers of people efficiently, affordably and profitably. This is IFC’s focus: supporting private infrastructure projects whose innovative, high impact business models can be widely replicated. In FY2013 IFC’s new investment commitments in infrastructure sectors totaled $2.7 billion.
The level of investor interest in the Fund highlights IFC's catalytic role as a key partner for other investors as well as being a leading direct investor in private-sector infrastructure in developing countries. IFC has invested in infrastructure for over 50 years, with a dedicated group of 300 professionals globally, that have accumulated unparalleled experience in developing, investing and managing a diversified portfolio of infrastructure investments. IFC’s committed portfolio in infrastructure sectors totaled more than $11 billion as of the end of FY2013.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our new investment commitments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About IFC Asset Management Company
A wholly-owned subsidiary of IFC, IFC Asset Management Company, LLC is IFC's fund management arm. AMC invests third-party capital alongside IFC, enabling outside investors to benefit from IFC’s expertise in achieving strong returns, as well as positive development impact, in the countries in which it invests. AMC manages over $6 billion of capital across six investment funds, including one fund of funds.
About the IFC Global Infrastructure Fund
The IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, LP invests alongside IFC in equity and equity-related investments in infrastructure projects and companies in developing countries.
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