King & Wood Mallesons has advised Meridiam on the structuring of its third European infrastructure fund Meridiam Infrastructure Europe III S.L.P.

Meridiam Infrastructure Europe III S.L.P., closed on 22 April 2016 and has raised €1.3 billion in only four months. The fund is innovative due to its long term investment strategy (25 years). It is also the first raising of a “société de libre partenariat” (SLP) and the first ELTIF (European Long Term Investment Fund) in Europe.

Created in 2005 by Thierry Déau, Meridam is a global French investor and asset manager specialising in public and community infrastructure with a long-term view, as for example, LaGuardia airport in New York, the Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines or the tramway of Florence in Italia. The business model of Meridiam is built exclusively on the equity financing of projects sponsored by public authorities for the benefit of the community.

The KWM team was composed of International Funds partner Arnaud David, with associates Agnès Rossi, Brendan Gallen, Julie-Ann Camboni and Joseph Briggs; of Tax partner Sylvie Vansteenkiste, with associate Thomas Guillier; and of Corporate partner Pierre-Louis Périn. KWM has advised Meridiam since 2006, specifically in relation to the structuring of Meridiam Infrastructure Europe I and II.