Strategic View: KKR and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a 45% equity stake in Sempra Infrastructure Partners for $10 billion, valuing the platform at $31.7 billion enterprise value. Simultaneously, a Blackstone-led consortium invested $7 billion for 49.9% of Port Arthur LNG Phase 2. The dual transactions unlock capital for Sempra while positioning institutional investors in critical U.S. LNG infrastructure.
Full story: In one of Q3 2025’s most significant infrastructure club deals, KKR orchestrated a masterful dual-transaction structure that reshaped North American energy infrastructure investment. The deal’s architecture reveals sophisticated risk-sharing among elite institutional players. KKR and CPP Investment Board jointly secured controlling interest in Sempra’s growth platform, which houses liquefied natural gas export terminals and associated pipeline infrastructure. This wasn’t merely capital deployment—it represented a strategic bet on decades of U.S. energy export dominance.
The transaction’s brilliance lies in its layered structure. While KKR’s consortium claimed the parent company stake, Blackstone simultaneously led a separate $7 billion club deal targeting Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 specifically. This project-level investment included Apollo-managed funds, Private Credit at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and KKR itself, creating overlapping alignment across capital structures. The Port Arthur facility will add 13 million tonnes per annum of liquefaction capacity, positioning participants to capture long-term offtake* agreements as global LNG demand accelerates.
Post-transaction, the KKR-led group commands 65% of Sempra Infrastructure Partners, with Sempra retaining 25% and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority holding 10%. Final investment decision for Phase 2 coincided with the announcement, signaling operational momentum. Commercial operations target 2030-2031, with construction financing already secured. For institutional investors, this represents patient capital deployment into hard infrastructure with inflation-protected returns and strategic geopolitical value. The deal validates the club deal model for mega-infrastructure: spreading $17 billion across multiple sophisticated partners while maintaining operational control and downside protection.
*Offtake: long-term purchase agreements securing project revenues.
Summary: This landmark infrastructure club deal demonstrates how leading private equity and pension funds are deploying record capital into U.S. energy export infrastructure. The sophisticated dual-structure approach—combining parent-level and project-level investments—offers a blueprint for future mega-infrastructure transactions. It matters because it positions North America as the premier LNG supplier while generating stable, inflation-linked returns for decades.
Source: Kirkland & Ellis, Bloomberg, Reuters, Sullivan & Cromwell
