KOTAM raises $185 mn for BlackRock's new energy fund

Korea Transportation Asset Management (KOTAM) has raised $185 million from five domestic institutional investors to commit to BlackRock's new renewable energy fund.

KOTAM said on Apr. 22 that the investment money will be funneled into BlackRock's Global Renewable Power Fund III that raised $4.8 billion in its final close earlier this month. It did not provide details about the participating Korean investors, nor their respective commitment amounts.

KOTAM is a joint venture between KEB Hana Bank and Kukje Maritime Investment Corp. (KMARIN).

The BlackRock fund targets renewable power and supporting infrastructure in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including energy storage and distribution and electrified transport. The latest fund has already completed three investments: an onshore wind power facility in Europe; a solar power facility in Asia; and a solar distribution facility in the US, according to its statement.

"Those Korean institutional investors participated in the fund on the prospect this year will be the first year of an energy transformation taking place in accordance with The Paris Agreement," said a KOTAM source.

In February of this year, the US officially returned to the Paris climate agreement to join global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
 
With the fundraising for BlackRock, KOTAM has further diversified its aircraft and vessel-focused portfolio hit hardest by COVID-19. It owns 75 vessels.

Last year, it set up an infrastructure investment division and raised $800 million from Korean institutional investors to invest in an infrastructure credit fund managed by US-based I Squared Capital (ISC).

Earlier this year, KOTAM arranged $50 million in overseas acquisition financing, details of which were not disclosed.

Meanwhile, BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, sold its retail business worth 700 billion won in South Korea to DGB Asset Management Co., a small domestic investment firm, to concentrate on institutional clients, both companies said on Mar. 31.

Write to Jung-hwan Hwang at jung@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.