20/02/2020
The Nordic region offers an attractive, stable environment for long-term investments in infrastructure. Aging infrastructure, urbanisation and changing demographics in the Nordic region results in a continuous need for private capital supporting infrastructure investment. CapMan Infra invests in Nordic infrastructure companies that create sustainable, long-term value for customers, employees, and communities.
CapMan Infra focuses on Nordic mid-cap core and core+ infrastructure investments. The Infra team, based in Helsinki and Stockholm, approaches infrastructure investing in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors from a value creation perspective. The eight-strong team combines backgrounds in corporate finance, principal investment, and operational infrastructure asset management.
– The diversity of our team is a key strength as it allows us to draw on different perspectives and make better decisions for our fund, says Ville Poukka, Managing Partner at CapMan Infra.
CapMan Infra has put those perspectives to good use in 2019. The team’s first fund held an interim close in the end of 2019 at €175 million and is expected to exceed €300 million at final close in second quarter of 2020. The fund made its first investments in 2019, building on the team’s experience from mandate deals — a Finnish electricity distribution and heating company, and a major onshore wind farm in Sweden — completed earlier. Sustainability runs as a common theme in all CapMan Infra’s investments.
Driving the green shift of the Norwegian ferry sector
In July, CapMan Infra and CBRE Caledon Capital Management acquired Norled, a leading Norwegian ferry and express boat operator. It is an attractive investment opportunity, which demonstrates strong infrastructure characteristics and an opportunity to invest in environmental improvements in the company’s fleet. Norled is one of Norway’s largest ferry and express boat transportation companies with a fleet of 59 ferries and 28 express boats that transport more than 17 million passengers and 9 million cars annually.
– The Norwegian ferry sector is undergoing a green shift driven by both environmental demands as well as availability of new technologies. Norled is a technological leader in the ferry sector and is currently renewing its fleet to zero-emission vessels. The company was the first in the world to introduce a fully electric car ferry and a hydrogen-powered vessel concept, says Torborg Chetkovich, Partner at CapMan Infra.
A deep-rooted ESG process
CapMan Infra incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into its investment analysis and decision-making processes. CapMan is a signatory of the global PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) initiative since 2012 and the Infra team applies active ownership in its portfolio companies. The principles are the backbone of all operations and help to drive change on a broader scale.
– In addition to the PRI, we have designed our proprietary ESG process in analysis and decision making. A thorough ESG process helps to identify value creation angles while at the same time building more sustainable and successful businesses and improving society, says Chetkovich.
Enabling better digital infrastructure
CapMan Infra’s second investment in 2019 was in a joint venture together with Telia Company, the leading Nordic telecommunications operator. The joint venture, where CapMan Infra will hold a majority, will acquire the existing fibre-to-the-home assets in Telia Finland, and look to increase the pace of roll-out of fibre to homes in Finland. One of the key goals in the Finnish Government Programme 2019 is to promote the construction of more extensive optical fibre networks throughout Finland to enable better digital infrastructure and fast and reliable broadband access across the country, and the joint venture is looking to tackle that issue.
– As local investors we are close to the end-users, we understand the market, and can truly help to add value to society, says Harri Halonen, Partner at CapMan Infra.
Read more in our 2019 Annual Report.
