Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Inks $2 Billion Partnership With Morrison

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(Bloomberg) — Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank will take a 15% stake in New Zealand-based infrastructure investor Morrison, as part of a new strategic partnership to provide its Japanese customers access to fresh investment opportunities.

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Sumitomo Mitsui will subscribe to new capital and have a director on Morrison’s board, the two firms said in a statement Tuesday. The statement did not provide details on the equity raising. The Japanese bank will also invest $500 million in infrastructure investment funds managed by Morrison and has agreed future collaboration aimed at jointly increasing assets under management by at least $1.5 billion, they said.

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Wellington-based Morrison has a global presence investing in a range of infrastructure including data centers and renewable energy, and has more than $30 billion in funds under management. The equity from Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui will provide capital to accelerate its expansion while the broader association will provide access to long-term Japanese capital held by both institutions and private investors.

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“The changing macro environment has made infrastructure a priority asset class for Japanese investors,” Morrison Chief Executive Officer Paul Newfield said. “The partnership strengthens our capital base, broadens our distribution reach and supports Morrison’s next phase of growth – without changing who we are or how we invest.”

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The future collaboration agreement will include raising third-party capital for each other’s infrastructure investment products in their home markets, as well as the development of new products for Japanese and global investors, the firms said.

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The partnership comes at a time of increasing demand from Japanese investors for access to global private markets and infrastructure opportunities, Sumitomo Mitsui President Manatomo Yoneyama said.

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“The partnership will support Japanese investors in accessing high-quality global infrastructure opportunities,” he said. “Our collaboration will also contribute to accelerating SuMiTB’s expansion of infrastructure-related business in overseas markets. This includes the global distribution of our domestic diversified infrastructure funds and collaborative product development.”

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