Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners Raises $1.65 Billion for Inaugural Standalone Fund

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, a leading independent infrastructure investment firm, announced today that it has completed fundraising for its inaugural standalone fund, closing Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund I at $1.65 billion.  Stonepeak, founded by former members of the infrastructure investment team at Blackstone, will focus on investment opportunities in the North American middle market, targeting the water and utilities, energy and power and transportation sectors. 

"We are extremely appreciative of the support we have received from our investors," said Michael Dorrell, co-founder and Senior Managing Director of Stonepeak.  "North American middle-market infrastructure represents a compelling investment opportunity, given the enormous capital needs and limited funding sources in the space.  We have completed four investments and announced another two to date, and we continue to see compelling opportunities to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns."

Stonepeak's fund initially targeted $1 billion and was significantly over-subscribed, with the fund reaching its hard cap. The fund received a strategic investment from TIAA-CREF, a national financial services organization with $523 billion in assets under management (as of 6/30/13), as well from public pension funds and other institutional investors in North America, Europe and Asia.

"Infrastructure and other real assets are an increasingly core element of investors' asset allocation plans, and we're grateful to have received such a resounding endorsement of our strategy and team," added Trent Vichie, co-founder and Senior Managing Director of Stonepeak.  "Now the important work begins, namely prudently investing the capital. We are seeing a strong flow of attractive potential investments, and converting this pipeline into a select number of great, lower risk infrastructure investments will be our sole focus for the foreseeable future."

Stonepeak estimates that the North American middle market infrastructure sector represents an approximate $1 trillion investment opportunity in the aggregate.  The firm believes that the investment opportunities in the middle market (i.e. companies or projects that require equity investments of between $50 million and $200 million) are especially compelling, given the lesser number of capital sources in this end of the market.  Stonepeak's  investments to date include a water desalination plant in Carlsbad, California, a solar-power facility in Ontario, Canada, a terminal and barge business called Tidewater in the Pacific Northwest, and a railroad terminal and storage facility in Casper, Wyoming.  Stonepeak also has announced pending investments into Magnolia LNG, a Louisiana based LNG export facility, and Paradigm Midstream, a Bakken, North Dakota based midstream system.

Stonepeak employs a disciplined value-creation strategy and process.  The firm's investment team and in-house operating partners work on sourcing deals principally through their own networks, structuring investments to protect the downside and adding value during operations.  Stonepeak also focuses on growing its businesses through organic initiatives at accretive returns and through accretive bolt-on acquisitions, all while instilling financial discipline and management expertise at each company.  The Stonepeak team comprises 21 professionals who have a realized track record in infrastructure assets and have worked on over $30 billion worth of infrastructure transactions.

First Avenue Partners LLP served as the placement agent for Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund I.

About Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners
Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners is an independent infrastructure fund manager that invests in North American middle-market infrastructure.  The firm targets lower risk investments in energy, power, renewables, water, transport and utilities.  Stonepeak is headquartered in New York.  For more information, visit www.stonepeakpartners.com.

SOURCE Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners