Ara Partners, a private markets firm with a strong focus on decarbonisation, has successfully raised $507 million for its inaugural infrastructure fund, surpassing its initial $500 million target. Although the firm has yet to complete its final close, the fundraising effort marks a significant achievement given the current slow pace of the infrastructure fund market. According to data from Infrastructure Investor, funds that reached their final close in 2024 took an average of 31 months to complete their fundraising. Additionally, the percentage of funds falling short of their targets has increased, with 43 percent missing their goals last year.
The Ara Partners Infra Fund I, launched in late 2022, has already made notable investments, including a majority stake in Northern Irish circular economy company Natural World Products (NWP), which closed last week. NWP specializes in recycling organic waste, converting it into compost, and operates five sites across Northern Ireland. The company processes 50 percent of all recycling from municipal waste collected in the region. Ara Partners has set its sights on expanding NWP’s EBITDA, with plans to make the company more appealing to core and core-plus investors, according to Teresa O’Flynn, partner and co-head of Ara Infrastructure.
The fund’s previous two investments have centered on the clean fuels logistics sector, with stakes in Lincoln Terminals, based in South Carolina, and USD Clean Fuels in Texas. Although this is Ara’s first infrastructure fund, the firm, which was established in 2018, has already raised three generations of private equity funds focused on industrial decarbonisation. The latest of these funds closed in late 2023 with $2.8 billion in capital.
Ara Partners was co-founded by Charles Cherington and Troy Thaacker with the goal of applying a hybrid approach to industrial decarbonisation. This approach combines private equity professionals with a dedicated “builder” team, as well as experts in government affairs and carbon accounting. Cherington emphasized the importance of either building new, low-carbon plants or retrofitting existing ones to achieve decarbonisation goals. Ara’s “builder team” plays a critical role in project management, evaluating technology, and overseeing plant development, construction, and optimisation—key components in advancing industrial decarbonisation.
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