By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS (Reuters) - French private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has met a target to raise 1.2 billion euros for its latest fund tied to energy transition despite headwinds for fundraising in the sector, it said on Thursday.
The fund, dubbed NextGen, is set to be invested in Europe and North America and is the first of its kind at Antin IP, which has about 30.8 billion euros ($33.8 billion) of assets under management.
It has already spent an undisclosed amount from the NextGen fund in companies including electric vehicle charging groups and a tyre recycling joint venture with Enviro and Michelin (EPA:MICP).
Antin said NextGen was backed by investors from Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, including new and existing investors from its funds.
"We're facing a market that's slowing down," Chief Executive Alain Rauscher said in an interview. "But we're clearly one of the winners in this slowdown," he added, brushing off Antin's stock price fall of 46% over the last twelve months.
Asked about the fundraising for the fifth generation of its Flagship fund, which secured 8.6 billion euros of commitments at the end of the third quarter, Rauscher said he was confident that it could reach the set target of 10 billion euros or more.
"We're confident that we'll raise, I'd say, between 10 and 12 (billion), and honestly, closer to 12 (billion) than 10," he said.
($1 = 0.9114 euros)