Quaero Capital an independent, specialist fund management firm has reached the first close of its European Infrastructure fund, with €50 million (US$53.8 million) of commitments.

The private equity fund is structured as a French-domiciled 'Fonds Professionnel de Capital Investissement'. It will be focused on small to mid-sized project finance transactions across Europe in the transport, social infrastructure, telecom, utilities and energy sectors. The fund has a target size of €200 million (US$215.4 million)

The fund, which is only offered to institutional investors, will be run by team led by Sébastien Bourget as Head of Quaero Infrastructure and will be based in Geneva a Swiss city that lies at the southern tip of Lac Léman.  Sébastien Bourget, stated:

"The first closing of the fund represents an important milestone, allowing us to take advantage of the promising project finance opportunities we have had in our pipeline since launch. Investors will be able to access attractive yield and recurring long-term cash flows, while benefiting from the robust structures of the infrastructure asset class. Our investments also offer a degree of protection from inflation."

Quaero Capital chief executive Jean Keller commented:

"Most European governments are trying to ease the high levels of public debt, but must still meet the growing infrastructure needs of their economies and people. Private financing guided by public policy is a critical element of sustainable service provision, offering secure funding for essential development. Through specialist vehicles such as the Quaero European Infrastructure fund, the private sector takes the risk and efficiently uses and returns the capital."