Mirova infrastructure fund may raise $266 mn from Korea: report

Mirova, part of France’s Natixis Asset Management, is likely to collect 200 billion won to 300 billion won ($177 million to $266 million) from South Korean institutional investors in its second European infrastructure fund that is seeking to raise €1 billion ($1.2 billion) globally, according to a newspaper report.

Mirova Core Infrastructure Fund (MCIF) II targets mainly public-private partnership projects in which Europe has been investing heavily.

The blind-pool fund is expected to generate annual returns of 8% to 9% with a 25-year term, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Sept. 6.

Its prior fund MCIF I raised €600 million in the first close in mid-2015 and invested in infrastructure assets in continental Europe.

The daily did not identify the South Korean institutional investors participating in the fund, but said that they included insurance firms and retirement savings funds.

Mirova had €6.6 billion in assets under management at end-2016. It has deployed more than €900 million to infrastructure assets in Europe.

Korea Asset Investment Securities Co. Ltd. is acting as a domestic placement agent of MCIF II.

Supported by South Korea's loosening of regulations over insurers’ cross-border infrastructure investments, they are increasing allocations to overseas infrastructure assets in search of longer-dated, higher-yielding assets.

By Daehun Kim

daepun@hankyung.com