French manager Reed, which is backed by Societe Generale, has set a EUR 1bn target for its inaugural infrastructure fund focused on energy transition, sources familiar said.

Reed formally began fundraising for the new fund in the first quarter of this year, the sources said, roughly six months after Societe Generale announced the acquisition of a 75% stake in the newly-launched manager and also committed to invest EUR 250m in the new fund. The French bank has an option to increase this commitment to EUR 350m.

Reed will continue fundraising with a target to raise EUR 1bn by final close by end of 2026, the sources said, while also deploying capital swiftly helped by the initial Societe Generale commitments.

To date, Reed has already signed seven investments, including its most recent one announced earlier this month in data centre group Voltekko, which operates in France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. The equity investment will support the Voltekko platform’s expansion plans to build next-generation data centres for as many as 10 sites across Europe.

The other six investments include investing equity in two assets that are part of Reed’s circular economy platform, both focused on plastics.

One is Loop Europe, Reed’s inaugural investment, involving an equity investment into a North American plastic recycling company to support its European expansion. The other is an investment in Green Dot, which specializes in the recycling and processing of plastics and paper and has a presence in several European countries.

Reed aims to expand this platform with new investments and recently appointed Antoine Boussard, previously a partner at Boston Consulting Group, to lead the platform’s growth.

Its other investments have been in the energy and water sectors.

Reed Management was launched at the end of 2023 by former Meridiam partner Julien Touati to focus on energy transition and sectors including energy, water and waste. Societe Generale announced its acquisition of a majority stake in the manager and an anchor commitment in Reed’s inaugural fund last July, rebranding the firm as REED – Societe Generale Group and closing the deal last November.

Reed declined to comment on the fundraising.