Brookfield Asset Management has closed its global infrastructure debt programme, Brookfield Infrastructure Debt Fund III ( BID III ), with capital commitments exceeding US$6 billion, including over US$400 million in discretionary co-investment capital. 

More than double the size of its predecessor fund, BID III – the world’s largest private infrastructure debt fund – has received significant support from a diverse group of institutional partners, including public and private pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, endowments, foundations and family offices. The company has committed US$600 million to the fund, the firm says, underscoring its alignment of interests with other investors.

Infrastructure debt has long appealed to Asia-Pacific’s largest institutional investors, reflecting appetite for a stable, longer duration, attractive risk-adjusted yield on capital, with commitments from Asia-Pacific institutional partners totalling approximately US$1.5 billion. Asia-Pacific-based investors have been strongly represented in the investor group for company’s infrastructure debt series since the first fund launched in 2016.

BID III has already deployed over 50% of its commitments, having made investments across its core infrastructure sectors, which include renewable power and data infrastructure sectors. The fund is focused on investments that are highly defensive in nature, due to the regulated, contracted and concession-based cash flows they produce, and is an alternative source of capital to businesses that require access to trusted, solutions-focused financing.

While BID III has a flexible mandate to invest wherever the best opportunities are globally, the fund is targeting 10% to 20% of its capital to be allocated in the Asia-Pacific region. The company sees increased opportunities to invest in the renewable power, data, transport, utilities and midstream sectors and will be focusing on Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Singapore in particular.

“This is a great time to be investing in infrastructure debt,” notes Hadley Peer Marshall, managing partner and co-head of the company’s infrastructure debt and structured solutions businesses. “With capital constraints across the market, we are increasingly becoming borrowers’ preferred partner and continue to see a number of opportunities to offer flexible solutions for businesses across the globe.”

Sean Robertson, the company’s senior vice-president for infrastructure, adds: “We intend to ramp up our investment activity across Asia-Pacific during the coming 18 months as we see significant opportunities to invest across our key themes.”