21 NEXT, a European alternative asset management platform focused on private markets and part of the Edizione Group, announces the first fundraising results and the first investment for Tages Infra Plus, the company’s new infrastructure fund, managed by 21 Tages, an asset manager specializing in infrastructure, energy transition, and private debt.
Tages Infra Plus, whose management team is led by Carlo Michelini, completed its first two closings between July and September, raising €120 million against a fundraising target of €500 million, equivalent to 25% of the target — with participation from Italian and international institutional investors, including pension funds, banks, banking foundations, and asset managers. About half of the investors had not previously invested in funds managed by 21 Tages, confirming the new strategy’s ability to broaden the investor base.
With a value-add strategy focused on the European mid-market, Tages Infra Plus invests in infrastructure assets with development and value creation potential, adopting an active, industry-focused approach.
The strategy is part of 21 NEXT’s growth trajectory, which combines expertise and investment opportunities in the private equity, infrastructure, energy transition, and private debt sectors, thanks in part to the support of Edizione—one of Europe’s leading industrial and financial holding companies, chaired by Alessandro Benetton—which has allocated €500 million to support the platform’s growth.
Tages Infra Plus has launched its investment activities, leveraging a diversified pipeline of opportunities. The fund has completed its first investment in HGV, a company based in Figline and Incisa Valdarno (Florence), which is undertaking an innovative project to redevelop and revitalize a currently inactive industrial site. The initiative involves the construction of a solar farm with a capacity of approximately 92 MW, integrated with energy storage systems and a facility for producing green hydrogen, with the goal of sustainably powering energy-intensive manufacturing operations and promoting a model that enhances the value of distributed energy. The project, which involves a total investment of approximately €100 million, is also expected to have a significant impact on employment once it is fully operational.
At the same time, the Tages Infra Plus team is also working on two additional transactions—one in Italy and one abroad—in the infrastructure services and transportation sectors, with signing expected by the end of October.
«The infrastructure sector is undergoing a period of rapid evolution: the cost of capital has made the market more selective, but at the same time, new opportunities are emerging linked to the significant investment needs in energy, digitalization, and essential services,” comments Carlo Michelini, Senior Partner at 21 Tages and Head of Tages Infra Plus Strategy. “We are currently seeing a particularly dynamic environment, thanks to growing investor interest in value-add strategies and in companies operating across the entire infrastructure value chain, particularly in the mid-market segment, where we are evaluating opportunities for growth and consolidation in various European markets—and it is precisely in this area that the pipeline we have built is offering us the most interesting opportunities.»
«The strong fundraising momentum of Tages Infra Plus comes amid growing interest in the opportunities offered by infrastructure investments,” comments Eugenio Vecellio, Head of Sales & Marketing at 21 Tages. “The first two closings represent a significant starting point for the development of the strategy and confirm 21 Tages’ ability to offer the market new investment opportunities, leveraging the expertise it has developed in the sector and a distinctive approach, attracting interest from an increasingly broad investor base, including institutional and other investors. This fundraising effort takes on even greater significance given that Tages Infra Plus is the first fund launched within the 21 NEXT platform, helping to generate further synergies.»