Global demand for new infrastructure to service everything from clean energy to data has created a lucrative new market for some of the biggest names in private credit. Investors including Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management, and Ares raised almost $9b last year for funds that will be used to finance infrastructure projects.
“One of our focus areas is decarbonization and in that space, there are a lot of new, smaller developers and players that may be less likely to access big banks,” said Ian Simes, a managing partner of Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.’s infrastructure group. Brookfield has raised the largest private infrastructure debt fund to date with Brookfield Infrastructure Debt Fund III closing on $6 billion in November 2023.