Partners Group's $5.5B infra secondaries close leans on value creation, not discount

Partners Group has closed its infrastructure secondaries program at more than $5.5 billion—on the bet that value creation, not entry-price discounts, will drive returns.

LPs increasingly turn to secondaries as a liquidity release valve for a market with a structural mismatch: infrastructure assets routinely outlive the closed-end funds built to hold them.

As more capital chases that gap, competition for the best-positioned deals is pushing firms to compete on underwriting depth rather than on how steep a discount they can extract from a seller.

The program comprises a $1.7 billion closed-end fund alongside bespoke mandates and other vehicles that invest in parallel, with new clients accounting for more than 70% of committed capital.

The capital pool, which comprises GP-led transactions and LP-led portfolios, is already over 25% committed across 20 seed investments. It also includes a lead investment in a continuation vehicle for a global commercial aviation leasing portfolio comprising 69 assets across a diversified customer base.

Partners Group has closed more than 70 investments globally since 2006, delivering fully realized returns of 18% net IRR over the period.

Dr. Dmitriy Antropov, head of private infrastructure partnership investments, told PitchBook that Partners Group's direct-style underwriting has delivered attractive returns across cycles.

"The discount is a relatively small part of the overall value creation in infrastructure; what is more important is the near-term value creation, which we identify in our due diligence. As a result, our typical secondary is marked at around 1.3x cost 12 months after closing, which we see as sustainable value creation," he said.

Infrastructure secondaries fundraising has seen increased investor interest since 2024 and set new records last year, as investors build a market around a long-standing mismatch between private market fund cycles and asset lifespans.

Partners Group's infrastructure secondaries strategy has invested $2 billion globally in the past year.

It closed its fourth direct infrastructure program at more than $15 billion just three days ago, 50% larger than its predecessor.

According to the firm, its direct infrastructure strategy delivered returns of 2.2x net total value to paid-in and 20.8% net IRR across 21 exits since inception.

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This article originally appeared on PitchBook News