AustralianSuper, OTPP commit $2b to India's NIIF
AustralianSuper and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) have agreed to commit up to $1 billion each to the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a vehicle backed by the Indian government.
The investors will each commit $250 million to the NIIF’s Master Fund, which invests in mature businesses with long-term track records in energy, transportation, and urban infrastructure, and will also co-invest up to $750 million alongside the fund. This commitment marks the third close of the Master Fund; additional investors include the Indian government, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Temasek Holdings, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank.
Along with their fund commitments, AustralianSuper and OTPP will become shareholders in NIIF’s investment management company. Domestic insurance firms HDFC Life and Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance have also taken stakes in the management company, in addition to backing the Master Fund.
The third close brings NIIF Master Fund to more than $1.8 billion in assets under management, with a co-investment pool of $2.5 billion, making it India’s largest infrastructure investment fund. The rupee-denominated vehicle has a tenure of 15 years.
“AustralianSuper and OTPP are among the most respected infrastructure investors in the world and bring considerable global perspective and value to NIIF,” said Sujoy Bose, managing director and CEO of NIIF, in a statement. “Their significant investments demonstrate the international interest in Indian infrastructure and reconfirm the many strengths of NIIF, positioning it as one of the primary Indian pooling vehicles for global capital.”
NIIF operates three funds including the Master Fund; its additional vehicles include a fund-of-funds to back third party managers and a strategic fund focused on projects with longer-term horizons across various stages of development. Its activity to date includes the acquisition of logistics player Continental Warehousing Corporation alongside DP World and the formation of a toll road investment platform with Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
NIIF is also an anchor investor, along with the UK government, in the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF), a PE vehicle set up in 2017 to invest GBP500 million ($710 million) in sustainable infrastructure projects in India.
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