Equitix has announced a first close of £278 million (US$431 million) for Equitix Fund IV, Equitix's fourth core infrastructure fund achieving over 55% of the Fund's £500 million (US$775 million) target.

The capital has been raised from 12 UK and European pension funds including a number of re-ups from Equitix Fund I, Equitix Fund II and Equitix Fund III investors.  To date Equitix has raised over £1.5 billion from institutional investors across its core infrastructure and energy efficiency focused funds.

The focus of Equitix Fund IV will remain consistent with that of funds I, II and III, investing in long-term core infrastructure projects with the majority of assets being availability based and backed by UK Government or other regulated entities. Equitix has continued to move with the market investing across a range of sectors from education and healthcare to waste and renewables, remaining nimble to adapt to evolving policies.

Equitix are being advised by Ashurst and Evercore Private Funds Group.

"We are delighted to have our fourth core infrastructure fund off the ground. We have had great support from investors and are pleased to see that there is such strong appetite for Equitix's investment class. Equitix's core focus is to raise funds and deploy them quickly which we have successfully delivered in predecessor funds. After a successful fund raise for Equitix Fund III, we have committed the full £505 million in just under 2 years.  We expect to adopt a similar strategy to the investment of fund IV and have identified a pipeline of projects for the fund to invest in."