Arcano Partners launches its third infrastructure fund, Arcano Earth Fund III, with a target of €300 million

Arcano Partners, an independent international financial advisory and asset management firm, has launched its third sustainable infrastructure fund: Arcano Earth Fund III FCR (“AEF III”). The fund, with a target size of €300 million, is aimed at institutional and private banking investors and expects to deliver a net return for its investors of over 10%.

AEF III will primarily invest in the Digital Infrastructure, Energy Transition, and Transport & Logistics sectors. All of these sectors have demonstrated resilient performance and significant structural growth potential, as outlined in the recently published report “Arcano Investment Outlook: Private Infrastructure in 2025” by Arcano Partners’ Sustainable Infrastructure team within its Asset Management division. The AEF III strategy allocates 50% of its capital to primary and secondary funds and the remaining 50% to co-investments, increasing the share of co-investments compared to the 30% set in its predecessor, Arcano Earth Fund II FCR (AEF II). This structure allows the fund to maintain broad diversification — with more than 150 underlying projects expected — while enhancing fund returns through access to direct opportunities, a strategy that has been successfully implemented since its first fund, Arcano Earth Fund.

Pierre Sáenz Lafourcade, Partner responsible for the Sustainable Infrastructure area at Arcano Partners, stated: “In recent years, sustainable infrastructure has demonstrated its defensive nature. Even during periods of economic slowdown and high volatility, infrastructure that supports essential services (energy, water, or connectivity) has continued to generate attractive returns. Since 2021, the recovery of economic activity has boosted the volume of infrastructure transactions as well as capital raising, reflecting strong investor appetite. Currently, this asset class already accounts for 8% of total alternative fundraising, with approximately $100 billion raised globally in 2024.”

Strong track record in Sustainable Infrastructure

AEF III builds on the experience and results delivered by Arcano Partners with its previous vehicles. Arcano Earth Fund FCR, launched in 2019, is already fully committed across 22 investments, including 7 co-investments, such as Norway’s largest electric ferry operator and a telecommunications tower company in the United States. For its part, Arcano Earth Fund II, launched in 2021 and also fully committed, has increased its exposure to digital infrastructure, leveraging the sector’s megatrend. This fund’s investments include three data center platforms that are leaders in their respective markets.

Over just six years, Arcano Partners’ Infrastructure area has invested more than €900 million in assets, providing exposure to more than 350 underlying projects across over 25 countries. The firm’s team has thus consolidated its position as a benchmark in the European market, with a specialized approach aligned with global megatrends: digitalization, decarbonization, and transport & logistics.

The funds managed by Arcano Partners’ Asset Management division in this area have demonstrated their ability to combine capital preservation, inflation protection, and capital appreciation potential in complex macroeconomic environments, as reflected in their performance throughout recent market cycles.

According to Carlos Ruiz de Gauna, Managing Director of the Sustainable Infrastructure area at Arcano Partners: “Global demand for sustainable infrastructure continues to accelerate, driven by digitalization, the energy transition, and new dynamics in transport and logistics. We are in a particularly opportune moment to increase exposure to infrastructure thanks to its risk-adjusted returns, decorrelation, inflation protection, and direct exposure to megatrends. The current environment will allow investors to capture value before competition increases while also participating in shaping the physical and digital infrastructure of the future.”

About Arcano

Founded in 2003, Arcano Partners is an independent global firm with more than 20 years of experience in financial advisory and international asset management. Arcano Partners currently operates through four business areas:

Asset Management, with more than €12.5 billion in assets managed and advised since it began operations in 2006, across six asset classes: Private Equity, Credit Strategies, Real Estate, Sustainable Infrastructure, Venture Capital, and Aviation Finance. Arcano has a strong focus on sustainability and responsible investment, positioning itself as a leading ESG asset manager.
Investment Banking, providing advisory services for M&A transactions, refinancing, restructuring, and capital markets for companies across various sectors. Arcano has specialized sector teams and also offers a transversal technology/digital focus.
Research and Strategic Advisory, providing differentiated economic, real estate, and market analysis, as well as geopolitical and technological insights into local and global trends. This analysis is highly valuable for companies to optimize their decision-making, especially in highly uncertain environments where mistakes can have significant impacts that can be mitigated through high-quality research.
Asset Financing, an area that enables investors to participate in the creation of solutions for financing tangible or intangible assets in Spain.

Arcano has a team of more than 260 professionals of over 20 nationalities, with 7 offices across Europe and the United States. It has become one of Europe’s leading independent firms in private markets.