VITO GAMBERALE: THE SECOND F2I FUND FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

CEO Vito Gamberale announced the establishment of a Second Fund on October 2 2012, less than four years after the establishment of the First Fund, the F2i SGR fund.

With an initial capital of €575 million, the Second Fund will continue with the investment strategy the First Fund kicked off in the infrastructure sector in Italy.

Established in January 2007, the First F2i Fund was launched by some of the Country’s main financial institutions, bank organisations and social welfare funds; two years after its foundation, it reached an overall capital of €1,852 million. Currently, the fund has been investing over €1,650 million in eight relevant sector infrastructure enterprises, such as gas distribution, airports, water services, optical fibre, renewable energy and motorways.

The Second F2i Fund has given continuation to the first fund’s strategy, with an aggregation and consolidation process in chosen sectors; its aim is to enter further segments of the Italian infrastructure sector.

With a €1.2 billion placement target, the Second Fund will also be active for no more than fifteen years and has a four-year investment period from the final deadline for purchasing the fund’s shares.

Besides a number of “historic” shareholders of the F2i SGR fund (Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Intesa San Paolo, Unicredit, Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Cassa Geometri e Inarcassa), new shareholders, such as Compagnia di San Paolo, Ente Carifirenze and Fondazione Baco di Sardegna, have also purchased stakes in the fund.

The establishment of the Second F2i Fund confirms Italy’s dynamism and the support offered by a number of Italian financial institutions to projects aimed at consolidating, modernising and developing the Country’s infrastructure system.