Groundwork for the future

EQT Infrastructure, a new investment fund advised by EQT Partners, closed its subscription last week after gaining €1.2 (zł.4.57) billion, €200 (zł.761) million more than expected.

The fund will concentrate on infrastructure investments of all kinds, mainly in projects to modernize existing infrastructure. "Our interest ranges from transport and logistics to energy - both conventional and renewable," Andreas Huber, a partner at EQT Infrastructure, told WBJ.

The EQT Infrastructure fund wants to take controlling or co-controlling stakes in companies whose enterprise values are between €100 (zł.380) million and €1 (zł.3.8) billion. The investment horizon will range between five and eight years. "We have just started talks with companies," Huber said. Although Poland is one of the fund's priorities, no specifics were give as to how much would be invested here.

Demand for investments in infrastructure will remain high in Poland, according to Krystyna Bobińska, a transport and infrastructure expert from the Sobieski Institute. "Demand is always higher than supply in the area of infrastructure," she said.

While the fund is concerned about the recent slowdown in the construction market, Piotr Czapski, the head of EQT Warsaw, stressed that infrastructure sector is in good shape. "Besides, the recent problems are only temporary," he told WBJ.