When preparing to exit an infrastructure asset, one question should be systematically addressed : is the equity story about resilience and yield or growth ?
While investors typically turn to infrastructure assets for resilience and yield, the reality is that valuation is equally driven by growth potential, as almost all infrastructure projects become multidimensional, digitalised and increasingly decentralised.
Across mobility, energy, telecom or digital infrastructure, one pattern stands out :
higher growth outlooks = higher valuation multiples.
So what does this mean for GPs and leadership teams building their exit strategy ?
Borrowing from finance concepts, the strongest positioning is to present your asset as a “call option”: protected on the downside, but offering meaningful upside.
To truly stand out, it’s not enough to demonstrate capex discipline, strong project management and operational efficiency. A compelling infrastructure equity story positioning must be powered by scalable upside.
Here are some elements that help make the difference :
- Growth optionality – greenfield opportunities, new revenue streams, digital upgrades, further monetisation
- Platform logic – the ability to replicate, scale, and expand
- Buyer advantage – why a potential acquirer is uniquely positioned to unlock value, from synergies to technology cross-fertilisation
In short ? it’s not resilience or growth, it’s both. In their exit strategy, leadership teams should be ready to interweave the two to maximise investor engagement and drive valuation at exit.
