Colliers’ acquisition of boutique investment bank Astris Finance significantly expands not just Astris’ horizons but also Colliers’ growing suite of energy and infrastructure investing capabilities. Senior executives from both firms told Infralogic’s Jonathan Carmody how partnering with the advisory firm aligns with Colliers’ growing focus on the energy transition with regards to the built environment.

The acquisition of Astris Finance by Colliers marks the latest step in a diversification process that has taken the firm beyond its traditional real estate services business and deep into the infrastructure sector.

Astris, a 65-person advisory firm specializing in infrastructure and energy transition, will provide Colliers, a professional services investor, with a deeper foothold in financial advisory, a sector already served by Colliers’ investment management and technical services arms.

Elias Mulamoottil, Global Head of Strategy & Corporate Development at Colliers, told Infralogic the firm is interested in working ever more deeply in energy transition and has been involved to date through its Real Estate Services segment in the decarbonization of buildings, one of the largest carbon emitters globally. “When the company split from FirstService Corporation, the intention was to become a diversified professional services business focused on high value essential services to the built environment,” he explained.

Colliers’ interest in Astris was sparked by one of its senior European executives, who recognized the firm’s niche in advising on infrastructure linked to energy transition. Colliers, which already offers engineering and technical services to infrastructure clients in sectors such as transport, renewables and telecommunications, considers Astris a strategic fit.

Expansions all round

Adding Astris completes a trifecta for Colliers—investment, technical and now financial advisory in the infrastructure market—and Colliers still has room to grow in the sector.

“Colliers already manages more than USD 25bn of energy transition and infrastructure assets through Harrison Street, Basalt Infrastructure Partners and Versus Capital,” Mulamoottil said, adding that the firm is also considering venturing into private infra credit. “Colliers continues to look at new opportunities including financing infrastructure through private credit, which we do not provide today and is a high priority for us,” he said.

Astris has made a name for itself with a focus on debt and equity raises, M&A advisory, and project finance mandates across emerging markets, with a history that began in Latin America. It has helped regional sponsors scale across borders in Latin America and more recently Southeast Asia—capabilities that will be retained and scaled through the partnership with Colliers, according to Romain Papassian and Tobey Collins, partners at Astris.

Astris has built a strong business advising on the energy transition, ranking consistently in the top three financial advisors by deal count in the Infralogic Rankings for European renewables deals. Collins told Infralogic that their team found Colliers to be “smart, collaborative, and interested in ’what we do.’”

Astris Finance has been growing over the past 25 years in three core regions: the Americas, Europe and South East Asia, operating and maintaining teams on the ground, in 10 countries.

“Astris today doesn’t serve all of Colliers’ markets globally and we were looking for a partner that could provide opportunities to expand our geographic footprint,” she said.

Collins’ role will be to facilitate the growth of the business inorganically, through firm acquisitions, team lift outs and/or strategic hires. “In particular, we are looking to grow the business in North America, in some other markets in Europe and Asia,” she added.

Sector focus

The two firms see immediate synergies, particularly in real estate-adjacent sectors like logistics, digital infrastructure, and energy efficiency in buildings.

Digital infrastructure is a clear growth vector, according to Mulamoottil, and the partnership will focus on ramping up Astris’ capabilities in this sector, where Colliers is a significant investor.

“The load growth from AI and data centers is going to be a massive issue, especially when combined with the increasing electrification of cars and heating homes, which all create a massive energy supply-demand imbalance. All these needs will be required to be fulfilled by infrastructure investment,” he said.

Papassian agreed that what Colliers does across the real estate space and its fundamental understanding of the real estate business globally gives it an amazing view of the digital space but also of logistics platforms and energy efficiency upgrades in buildings.

“We expect there will be more adjacencies to be found, for instance with urban mobility projects involving redeveloping warehouses and depots with charging stations for e buses for example, as we have been very active in the e-mobility space in big cities such as Santiago, Bogota, São Paulo or Mexico,” he said.

Mulamoottil pointed to the strong overlaps between what Astris does and Colliers’ investment and consulting activities and also highlighted growing global urbanization, which will require investment in infrastructure to provide mass transit, housing, sanitation and smart cities, as an area where the two firms can find synergies.

Under Colliers’ partnership model, Astris’ management will retain equity in the business, a structure designed to maintain entrepreneurial alignment. “They had been approached by others who wanted to buy them out completely, but that is not what they wanted,” Mulamoottil said. “Our partnership philosophy was a perfect fit for them.”

“Sponsors tend to gravitate towards larger institutions. As part of Colliers, Astris will be part of global brand and international platform with the financial resources and stability of a global services leader,” he added. “The institutional credibility of Colliers will open many doors for Astris.”

The move underscores Colliers’ conviction in infrastructure as a long-term growth sector. “The infrastructure sector is experiencing massive tailwinds which is driving enormous investment into the infrastructure sector. For example, roads are in poor condition, bridges are collapsing, and the American Society of Civil Engineers report card gave the US a ‘C‘ this year,” said Mulamoottil. “Confronting climate change will be an enormous challenge for our society and we need renewable energy and to decarbonize buildings to lower our carbon emissions. This will increase demand for services that we provide at Colliers including our technical and financial advisory services.”

For Astris, the challenge is to integrate without losing its specialization. New geographies will not come at the expense of existing geographies, Papassian explained.

“Astris will remain very focused on emerging economies in Southeast Asia and Latin America, and we’re very bullish about the pipeline of deals we have in those regions ​where many new regional players, whether investors or developers, are emerging too,” he said.