Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners has announced today that it has completed fundraising for its inaugural standalone fund, closing Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund I at $1.65 billion. Stonepeak was founded by former members of the infrastructure investment team at Blackstone.

Michael Dorrell, co-founder and Senior Managing Director of Stonepeak, said:

"We are extremely appreciative of the support we have received from our investors. North American middle-market infrastructure represents a compelling investment opportunity, given the enormous capital needs and limited funding sources in the space.  We have completed four investments and announced another two to date, and we continue to see compelling opportunities to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns."

Stonepeak's fund initially targeted $1 billion and was significantly over-subscribed, with the fund reaching its hard cap. The fund received a strategic investment from TIAA-CREF, a national financial services organization with $523 billion in assets under management (as of 6/30/13), as well from public pension funds and other institutional investors in North America, Europe and Asia. As examples, Washington State Investment Board invested US$250 million in Stonepeak infrastructure fund and the Virginia Retirement System also invested $100 million in the fund.

Stonepeak will focus on investment opportunities in the North American middle market, targeting the water and utilities, energy and power and transportation sectors. The middle market includes companies or projects that require equity investments of between $50 million and $200 million. The company considers that those are especially compelling, given the lesser number of capital sources in this end of the market.

Stonepeak's  investments to date include a water desalination plant in Carlsbad, California, a solar-power facility in Ontario, Canada, a terminal and barge business called Tidewater in the Pacific Northwest, and a railroad terminal and storage facility in Casper, Wyoming.  Stonepeak also has announced pending investments into Magnolia LNG, a Louisiana based LNG export facility, and Paradigm Midstream, a Bakken, North Dakota based midstream system.

Stonepeak focuses on growing its businesses through organic initiatives at accretive returns and through accretive bolt-on acquisitions. The Stonepeak team comprises 21 professionals who have a realized track record in infrastructure assets and have worked on over $30 billion worth of infrastructure transactions.

First Avenue Partners LLP served as the placement agent for Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund I.