THE IRISH Infrastructure Fund (IIF), which aims to invest up to €1 billion in Irish assets, has made its first investment through the acquisition of a majority stake in a portfolio of wind farms from the Viridian Group.

The fund was established in 2011 with the aim of attracting some €1 billion in investment from Irish and international investors to invest in Irish infrastructure, including assets being disposed of by the State.

It has secured investment of €300 million to date.

The Viridian deal, the value of which was not disclosed, will see the fund take a stake of at least 75 per cent across the portfolio of wind farms, which consists of 104 megawatt (MW) of capacity generated by 10 wind farms, eight of which are located in the Republic.

Viridian’s Energia business will retain the minority interest in the portfolio and will continue to manage the wind farms and to offtake substantially all of the electricity generated by them.

The fund is a three-way partnership between Irish Life Investment Managers; the Australian fund manager AMP Capital, which acts as the fund’s discretionary investment manager; and the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF).

As a cornerstone investor of the fund, the NPRF has put up € 250 million to date in the IIF, and its goal is to act as a catalyst for attracting third-party investors and thereby increasing the size of the overall investment in the Irish economy.

Paul Carty, NPRF commission chairman, said the deal establishes the IIF as “a major new investor in Irish infrastructure”, adding that it will bring liquidity to the market.

“Transactions that enable vendors to recycle their capital into further investment, in this case in the renewable assets sector, are essential to the development of the infrastructure market in Ireland,” Mr Carty added.