Morrison & Co raising $1b for NZ infra fund

Morrison, which has $5 billion of capital deployed among a range of vehicles and also invests directly in infrastructure, property, venture capital, agriculture and growth equity deals, is raising the vehicle to co-invest with the NZ$17.7 billion ($13.9 billion) New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF), according to Asian Investor.

As the sovereign wealth fund is not allowed to be the majority investor in a given project or asset, it needs co-investors that are able to participate in projects with ticket sizes up to $250 million.

Anthony Muh, executive director and CEO of asset management at Morrison, expects to first tap Japanese pension funds to invest in the new fund, and hopes that NZSF's participation will reassure prospective LPs.

Morrison was established in 1988, following the 1987 stock market crash that hit Australia and New Zealand badly and forced the overleveraged governments of the time to sell many infrastructure assets, including airports and power plants.

Two years ago, Morrison's closed-end fund Infratil and NZSF announced a $490 million joint acquisition of the New Zealand downstream assets of Dutch petroleum giant Shell. The assets sold included 200 filling stations, rights to the domestic Shell brand, various marine and aviation service facilities, and a stake in the New Zealand Refining Company.

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• Topics
• Fundraising
• Infrastructure
• Australasia
• New Zealand
• Infrastructure
• Fundraising