Brookfield's debt fund to raise $610 mn from Korea

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will collect around 700 billion won ($610 million) from South Korean institutional investors for its second credit fund which is expected to raise 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in its final close, according to a media report.

Brookfield Infrastructure Debt Fund II has drawn pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors in Korea through a vehicle launched by Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Co., the Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Oct. 9.

The fund of funds investment by Korean institutions is expected to return over 7% per annum. For the 3 trillion won fund, Brookfield will ante up its own capital equivalent to 10-15% of the target amount, the daily added.

The new credit fund will lend to brownfield projects, or infrastructure assets in the redelopment process, managed by Brookfield as an existing manager. It will focus on the energy, transport, utilities and telecommunications sectors in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

In comparison, Brookfield’s first infrastructure debt fund, which raised $885 million in 2018, delivered an annual return of over 10%, according to the newspaper. It had focused on mezzanine debt investments in core infrastructure assets primarily in North and South America, Australia and Europe.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, the listed flagship unit of the Toronto-based investment firm, manages $550 billion of assets. It has raised a combined 40 trillion won for its investment vehicles over the past five years.

yhkim@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.