Emerging markets private equity major Actis has raised over $1 billion for its third energy fund, with the pool being oversubscribed. The firm said in a statement that Actis Energy 3 "was heavily oversubscribed, raising a total of $1.15 billion, exceeding its original target of $750 million by 50 per cent."
The fund also has discretionary co-investment capital worth $262 million. Actis Energy 3’s investor base includes public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and families from the US, Europe and Asia.
Actis Energy 3 will invest in electricity generation and distribution businesses in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The Actis energy team of 19 dedicated investment professionals has already started building the fund’s portfolio.
The energy team in India is lead by partner Sanjiv Aggarwal, who joined Actis in 2008 after seven years at Citigroup. Actis has made already an investment in the sector in India, when it infused Rs 349 crore power company GVK Energy Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyderabad-based infrastructure developing company GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd.
Actis Energy 3, which has committed $560 million to date, has invested in Brazilian renewable energy company Atlantic Energias and Chile’s largest wind and solar electricity provider Aela Energía. It is also picking up a majority stake in Cameroon’s national grid and acquired Morocco’s water, waste water and electricity services.
"This successful fundraising is a sign of confidence from our investors in our focused strategy. Electricity in the emerging markets faces high demand growth but remains a scarce commodity in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Such is the demand, especially in the renewables space, that the team has already put half of the new fund to work,” said Torbjorn Caesar, co-head of Energy at Actis.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)