On Thursday, I Squared Capital, the Miami-headquartered, independent infrastructure investment manager with $13.6 billion in AUM, announced plans to partner with a group of institutional investors to deploy up to $800 million in infrastructure credit instruments across multiple sectors and regions.
Korean business news media reported on Thursday that I Squared’s primary partner in the venture, a blind-pool fund, is Korea Transportation Asset Management (KOTAM), an investor in logistics and transportation assets, including shipping, aviation and airports, oil and gas midstream, along with warehouses, port terminals and containers. KOTAM is the alternative assets investment platform of KEB Hana Bank and shipowner Kukje Maritime Investment Corp (KMARIN). According to Korean Investors news, the new fund will mark KMARIN’s first investment in global infrastructure credits.
The strategy—part of I Squared’s infrastructure credit platform launched earlier this year—will target a blend of investments across senior, mezzanine and unitranche debt to established corporate sponsors and middle-market developers in the energy, utilities, transportation, telecom and social infrastructure sectors.
Dynamic mandate
“Infrastructure credit is a natural extension of our global equity strategy and we are excited to leverage our global and sectoral network to invest in infrastructure credit,” said Sadek Wahba, Chairman and Managing Partner of I Squared Capital. “Developing infrastructure is more important than ever and we see robust demand for capital across our key sectors including renewables, telecom, and transport logistics.”
Per the company’s announcement, these investments will help finance essential services needed to recover from the Covid pandemic, mitigate the effects of climate change, and support future economic growth.
The fund will reportedly span the risk spectrum, from investment grade to high yield, focusing on strong downside protection in OECD countries, primarily in the U.S. and Europe.