By Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Macquarie Group (OTC:MQBKY) said on Monday it had raised more than 8 billion euros ($8.72 billion) for a new European infrastructure fund as investor appetite for tangible assets from ports and power to data centres remains strong.
The seventh European Infrastructure Fund raised money from more than 100 investors including pension funds and sovereign wealth funds according to a statement published on Monday, with more than 90% contributed by previous Macquarie investors.
"Continual investment is needed to develop the infrastructure that provides essential services to communities," Martin Bradley, head of infrastructure for Macquarie Asset Management in Europe, said in the statement.
He added that the fund, which Macquarie said had aimed to raise 7 billion to 8 billion euros, would enable the group to "play a meaningful role" in helping meet that need.
Institutional investors' enthusiasm for infrastructure is being stoked by soaring demand for logistics and digital infrastructure and the prospect of trillions more being spent as the world transitions away from high-carbon energy.
Earlier this month BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) agreed to buy Global Infrastructure Partners and its portfolio of assets including Britain's Gatwick airport and the Port of Melbourne for $12.5 billion.
Macquarie, the largest infrastructure manager globally, launched its first European infrastructure fund in 2004. The Sydney-based firm has approximately 542 billion euros in assets, of which some 170 billion are in infrastructure.
The seventh fund has already made three investments, including VIRTUS Data Centres and Vienna-headquartered parking provider Best in Parking AG.
($1 = 0.9171 euros)
(This story has been corrected to attribute the statement to Martin Bradley, not Adam Lygoe, in paragraph 3)