DIF Capital Partners, a leading global infrastructure fund manager, is pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Italy. The Milan office will be DIF’s twelfth office.

The new office will target investments in Italy as well as allowing DIF to better serve its growing Italian investor base.

DIF’s Milan office will be headed by Roberta Battaglia. Roberta was most recently Head of Infrastructure at Italian sovereign wealth fund CDP Equity. While at CDP Equity, Roberta was responsible for the origination, transaction execution and portfolio management of assets operating in the infrastructure sector. In this role she also led the acquisition of Autostrade per l’Italia, Italy’s largest motorway network.

Prior to this, Roberta spent ten years in the investment team at Antin Infrastructure Partners in Paris. While there, she oversaw numerous European investments in – and management of – the telecom, transport and energy sectors. Before that, Roberta worked at Deutsche Bank – first in the Milan Corporate Finance team and later in the EMEA Infrastructure sector team in London.

Wim Blaasse, CEO at DIF Capital Partners, says: “We are delighted that Roberta is joining the DIF team to lead this latest step in the expansion of our global network. Italy is a highly attractive market with an increasing number of interesting investment opportunities across our key target sectors. Having a local team, on the ground, will really enhance our sourcing and management capabilities on the ground.”

“We’ve also expanded our investor base amongst Italian institutions so this new office will enable our investor relations team to better serve our existing and future investors in the region.”

Roberta Battaglia says: “I’m incredibly excited to be heading up DIF’s new Italian office in Milan. DIF has a reputation as one of the best mid-market infrastructure players in Europe and I look forward to working with my new colleagues to accelerate our expansion in Italy.”

“Italy is major beneficiary of the EU’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) – worth almost EUR 200 billion of investments in the energy and digital transitions. With the PNRR set to continue until 2026, the injection of money into Italy’s infrastructure will trigger further investment from private investors, making Italy a very active market.”

DIF Capital Partners: press@dif.eu

DIF Capital Partners is an infrastructure fund manager with more than EUR 17 billion of assets under management. DIF was founded in 2005 and has a leading position in managing mid-market investments, primarily in Europe and North America.

DIF follows two strategies: its traditional DIF funds invest in infrastructure projects and companies in the energy transition (incl. renewables) and utilities sector, as well as concessions. The firm’s CIF funds invest in companies with strong growth potential that are active in infrastructure sectors such as digital infrastructure, energy transition and sustainable transportation.

With a team of over 240 professionals in 12 offices, DIF offers a unique market approach combining global presence with the benefits of strong local networks and investment capabilities. DIF is located in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto.

In September 2023, CVC, a leading global private markets manager, announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in DIF Capital Partners. Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected in Q2 2024.