Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has announced today that its Partners Group Global Infrastructure 2012 program, has closed at €1 billion, which makes it the largest dedicated infrastructure vehicle ever raised by the firm.

The program is twice the size of its predecessor 2009 vintage program, and will invest through an integrated approach in direct, secondary and primary opportunities in the private infrastructure space around the globe.

According to the firm, in the short to mid-term, the most attractive opportunities for the program continue to exist in developed and emerging markets in sectors where investors can capture attractively priced greenfield premiums, excess returns through value creation with bolt-on/platform growth initiatives of uniquely positioned assets and incremental returns from operational improvements.

During the program's fundraising period, Partners Group's private infrastructure investment professionals screened more than 1,300 infrastructure assets and have invested in 8 of these, spread across four continents. Direct investments include an initiative to construct a series of photo-voltaic solar power plants across Southeast Asia, an agreement to acquire a pipeline operator and compression station in Latin America, the construction of a desalination plant on the US West Coast to produce drinking water for the greater San Diego area, a core regulated utility in South East England with inflation-linked cash flows which provides water service to domestic and commercial customers, and the construction of a cancer research, treatment and education facility in the heart of Melbourne, Australia. In addition, Partners Group has continued its focus on secondary opportunities and already closed three attractive transactions for the program. As a result, Partners Group Global Infrastructure 2012 is already over 35% committed.

Michael Barben, Partner and Co-Head Private Infrastructure, comments:

"We are delighted to have seen such strong interest from our clients in this program. We are convinced that our approach of investing globally across stages, sectors and regions will allow our clients' infrastructure portfolios to achieve favourable risk-adjusted returns due to the low inherent correlation between return drivers of infrastructure assets. We anticipate fundamental trends for infrastructure investment requirements to remain unchanged and, as these funding requirements are not financeable by traditional sources, infrastructure spending by private investors to become increasingly important as a result. Our global footprint ensures access to the entire spectrum of available opportunities, allowing us to generate a greater volume of deal flow."

Investors in Partners Group Global Infrastructure 2012 include a mix of new and re-upping institutional investors from public and corporate pension plans, endowment funds and foundations, insurance companies and financial institutions from around the world.