Ardian raises €3bn for infrastructure secondaries fund
Ardian has raised over $6bn for its secondary infrastructure strategy in 2025, extending the scale of its global secondaries platform alongside a series of flagship closes across the firm. The raise comes as Ardian reports continued investor demand for both secondaries and direct strategies, supported by substantial deployment volumes year to date.
Secondaries platform expansion
Ardian's secondary infrastructure strategy has passed the $6bn fundraising mark, adding a dedicated pool of capital to transact in existing infrastructure assets and funds. This sits alongside Ardian Secondaries Fund IX, which raised $30bn and is described by the firm as the largest secondaries platform ever raised globally.
Ardian stated that Secondaries Fund IX is already over 50% deployed, underlining the pace at which the manager has been able to source and execute secondary transactions. Across strategies, Ardian reported deploying approximately $23.8bn in 2025 as of the end of the third quarter, illustrating the breadth of deal flow being converted into assets under management.
Jan Philipp Schmitz, Executive Vice-President and Head of Investor Relations at Ardian, said investors "see the strength of our investment strategies and expertise of our teams." He added that Ardian's "scale, diversification and leading global position in both secondaries and direct investments are essential." The firm noted that it has successfully closed three major flagship funds during 2025, consolidating its position across secondaries, infrastructure and mid-market growth.
Direct infrastructure and sector focus
Alongside the secondary infrastructure strategy, Ardian has scaled its direct infrastructure franchise through the Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI platform, which raised $20bn. The manager said this vehicle is 90% larger than its predecessor, marking a step-up in capital dedicated to the strategy.
Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI is focused on European energy, transport and digital infrastructure, targeting core sectors that underpin the region's economic and connectivity needs. The combination of a large direct infrastructure pool and a multi‑billion‑dollar secondary infrastructure strategy gives Ardian a broad toolkit to access infrastructure risk across both primary and secondary markets.
Broader private markets fundraising
Beyond infrastructure and secondaries, Ardian has continued to add scale in adjacent private markets strategies through 2025. The firm raised close to €5bn for its private credit strategy, expanding its capacity to provide non‑bank lending solutions across the capital structure.
In European mid-market growth, the Ardian Expansion Fund VI collected €3.2bn, extending the manager's buyout and expansion capital offering. Ardian also reported a €300m raise for its Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) strategy from CBRE Investment Management, adding a specialist real estate sleeve focused on student housing.
On the real assets and sustainability side, Ardian achieved a €100m first close for its NBS platform at COP30, signalling investor appetite for nature‑based solutions within diversified private markets portfolios. Taken together, these capital raises show Ardian building out multiple sleeves of exposure across credit, real estate, infrastructure and growth equity within a single multi‑strategy platform.
Forward focus
Schmitz said that in 2025 Ardian has continued to earn the trust of investors. He linked recent fundraising to the firm's perceived expertise and global positioning across secondaries and direct investments. With three major flagship funds now closed and substantial deployment already executed, the next phase for Ardian will centre on putting newly raised capital to work and sourcing secondary and direct opportunities across its expanded infrastructure and private markets platform.
--- Sources: https://www.ardian.com/ https://www.ardian.com/news-insights/press-releases/ardian-course-finish-another-record-year-more-20bn-raised
