AIG Spin-out Raises $1.1B So Far For Fund IV

Highstar Capital, the infrastructure-focused private equity group that spun out of AIG, is almost halfway there in raising its latest fund, according to a regulatory filing.

The the New York and Houston-based buyout firm has raised $1.1 billion toward its target of $2.5 billion for the fund, Highstar Capital IV LP. A source close to the fundraising said the firm would likely wrap fundraising in the spring. Placement agents Probitas Partners and PineBridge Securities are helping the firm raise the funds.

Since 2000, Highstar Capital has invested $5.5 billion in 18 infrastructure investments, eight of which have been exited, according to the firm’s Web site. The firm targets infrastructure investments in energy, environmental services and transportation. Current holdings include Caiman Energy LLC, a company that helps gather and process natural gas in the Marcellus Shale; Advanced Disposal Services Inc., which comprises two waste management companies along the East Coast; and the Bayonne Marine Terminal, an owner of 94 acres of port-side property Iselin, N.J.

Highstar Capital is led by founder Christopher Lee, who has been working with public-private partnerships in Asia, Latin America and the United States since the 1980s. Lee is also an outspoken advocate of major infrastructure investing in the United States, having written columns in Politico and The Huffington Post calling for more federal support of infrastructure spending.

“Infrastructure development is key to jump-starting our economy and getting Americans back to work,” he wrote in Politico on Oct. 30. “If the White House and Capitol Hill are serious about fixing our economic and unemployment problems, then an overhaul of infrastructure project review and the creation of a well-capitalized infrastructure bank are absolute priorities.”

Scott Litman, an executive at the firm who signed the regulatory filing, did not return a call seeking comment.