CNP Assurances, a French insurance corporation and Meridiam, a global investor and asset manager based in Paris, have announced the closing of the Meridiam Transition fund, focused in the energy transition.

The amount of €425 million (US$480.9 million) was raised in six months from French institutional investors.

The fund was launched by the companies in 2015 to offer an innovative response to the challenges of the energy transition by contributing to the financing of greenfield investment projects and it was open to all institutional investors wishing to contribute to financing the ecological and energy transition.

Meridiam Transition mainly targeted innovative development projects in the field of energy efficiency, local energy services (particularly heating networks as well as energy recovery from waste), power and gas grids and innovative renewable energies.

The fund offered long-term support, based on a 20-year investment horizon, to projects of a fairly modest size but with a significant regional impact, in France and the European Union.

Thierry Déau, Meridiam founder and CEO, commented when the fund was launch:

"The energy transition, and the associated challenge of climate change, is also a fantastic chance to offer long-term investment opportunities to institutional investors and to create a virtuous circle between savings and local projects. Through Meridiam Transition, we are delighted to be able to offer French institutional investors a chance to be part of this virtuous circle."