AGF Management has committed C$75 million ($56 million) to a closed-end fund managed by InstarAGF Asset Management.
InstarAGF Essential Infrastructure II invests in North American, middle-market infrastructure. InstarAGF, which is an integral element of AGF’s growing alternatives business strategy, is an independent alternative asset management firm with deep infrastructure expertise. It is currently fundraising.
“AGF has a strategic priority to develop an alternatives platform, including infrastructure, with an aim to further diversify our business,” said Kevin McCreadie, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, AGF. “The attractiveness of this business stems from the fact that underlying assets are uncorrelated to our core business.”
InstarAGF Essential Infrastructure I closed in June 2017 with $740 million. The fund focuses on energy, utilities, civil and social infrastructure assets that exhibit sustainable downside protection, typically as a result of long-term contracts, concession agreements or a regulatory regime. 2017 investments included an interest in the passenger terminal at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, a vital transportation hub for the city of Toronto and surrounding region; a 30-megawatt wind power facility in British Columbia’s Okanagan region; and an interest in Steel Reef Infrastructure Corp., a Canadian midstream energy services company that operates in top-quartile basins in Western Canada.
Last year, the fund acquired a 100 percent equity interest in AMPORTS, a premier automotive port logistics and processing company based in Jacksonville, Fla., and a 50 percent equity interest in Creative Energy, a community energy solutions, and form a partnership to develop, finance, renew and manage urban energy infrastructure in Vancouver, Greater Vancouver area and Toronto.
Recently, InstarAGF acquired jet fuel pipeline and terminal facilities serving major airports in the United States from Buckeye Partners, alongside several of InstarAGF’s co-investors. The assets will continue to be operated and maintained under a long-term contract by Buckeye Development & Logistics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Buckeye, which provides best-in-class operations and maintenance, asset development and construction services for pipeline and energy assets across the United States. The sales price was $450 million.
