‘Infratech’ Insights
August 2026
Welcome to the inaugural CBHH six-monthly summary of what we are observing in the field of European technology-enabled infrastructure (‘infratech’) investment and about some of the companies that benefit from such funding.
“Our views are informed by CBHH’s direct experience with companies, their directors and institutional investors and lenders across the digital, energy transition, transport/logistics sectors and in industrial decarbonisation.”
The ‘Macro’ View
Over the past ten years, there has been a considerable increase in the funds flowing into the global infrastructure investment community, averaging c.$100bn per annum between 2016-21 and increasing since then to $200bn in 2025, driven largely by the appetite to support the roll-out of hyperscale data centres and the energy infrastructure requirements of increased electrification of our economies. So, there’s no shortage of funds available for European infrastructure.
“What we have observed, more recently, is a migration of infra fund investment appetite towards larger initial cheques (i.e. >€100mn).”
While this may mean there is currently a little less competition among fund managers chasing opportunities at the smaller, earlier and ‘value add’ end of the market, it also means that there is a smaller pool of capital available for these situations.
Digital Infrastructure
A sector of two distinct halves: Data centres and fibre.
In data centres, we have seen a wall of real estate and infrastructure capital funding hyperscale deployments and the energy investment to support the expanding cloud-based computing and AI workloads – and this has driven valuations to, probably, unsustainable levels. However, the actual implementation of and commercialisation of opportunities in the UK and Germany is proving complicated and slow, hampered particularly by the practicalities of planning, energy availability and the timing of grid connections. We do not see this backdrop easing in the near term.
“We are observing an increased requirement for change within the plumbing of the internet – whether that is locating data centres near the landing of subsea cables or the need for compute power to reside not just in large-scale facilities but also closer to the consumer.”
In fibre, for many, 2026 will be a year of survival, attempting to bring businesses to the point of becoming EBITDA-positive or cash-flow-positive. Some companies will certainly fail, and many more will need to have their capital restructured as residential broadband prices are expected to continue to face severe competitive pressure through 2027. It’s notable that very few fibre networks have achieved sufficient customer penetration to cover the costs of the capital their shareholders and lenders have already deployed. Consolidation is consequently an imperative for many just to eke out better economies of scale. There are almost no cash buyers for companies, so the winners will be those with either (i) restructured capital, (ii) capable of operating profitably within their current capital envelope or (iii) capable of attracting fresh capital to take advantage of what may very well prove to be a good time to acquire or combine fibre assets.
Energy Transition Infrastructure
The energy transition has entered a new phase, where the investment opportunity extends well beyond renewable generation into the infrastructure required to support an increasingly electrified economy. Across Europe, accelerating power demand from AI-enabled data centres, industrial electrification, electric transport and digital infrastructure is creating unprecedented pressure on existing electricity networks.
“The European Commission estimates that achieving Europe’s energy transition will require approximately €660 billion of annual investment between 2026 and 2030, rising to almost €700 billion per year thereafter, spanning generation, grids, storage, efficiency and supporting infrastructure.”
As capital deployment increasingly shifts towards electrification-enabling infrastructure, battery storage, flexible generation, energy networks and digital infrastructure, investors are looking for scalable platforms capable of delivering both growth and resilient cash flows. CBHH has advised a wide range of companies in the energy transition infrastructure sector, including: Xela Energy, a private-wire renewable generator tied directly into large power users (i.e., data centres, manufacturers, etc.); Inexogy GmbH, a competitive metering point operator in Germany; ANA Inc., a leader in the mobile power generation market in the U.S.; and several European electric vehicle charge-point operators.
CBHH is a leader in advising the European energy transition infrastructure sector with a speciality around growth equity and M&A in decentralised electricity solutions.
Industrial Decarbonisation
Circular economy and industrial decarbonisation are no longer viewed primarily through an ESG or impact lens – the next generation of circular economy and industrial decarbonisation platforms are delivering less expensive and better products that create attractive returns for investors.
The combination of regulatory drivers and corporate commitments to decarbonise supply chains stands alongside a growing economic imperative to use resources more carefully and to capture benefits from waste materials that are otherwise costly to dispose. For example, the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal and forthcoming Circular Economy Act impose meaningful targets (and penalties for non-compliance) on industries across the region.
“CBHH is advising companies in areas such as recycling, waste-to-X, and waste management, with deals spanning recycled carbon fibre, recovered material from end-of-life car and bike tyres, green chemicals from whisky byproducts and alternative proteins from food waste.”
For investors focused on circular economy and industrial decarbonisation, investments can benefit from high barriers to entry and long-term contracted cashflows. For companies seeking to raise capital, challenges include demonstrating technical and commercial readiness through the scale-up phase, securing customer offtake agreements in sectors often characterised by short-term contracts or commodity markets, and building long-term value through pipeline development and technology licensing.
We are currently active in several industrial decarbonisation situations across the UK and Europe. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the latest developments in this sector.
Transport/eHGV charging
HGVs generate over 15% of total transport emissions in the UK. Until recently, a combination of a higher total cost of operations versus diesel and a severe lack of charging infrastructure has hindered the adoption of eHGVs (currently c1,500 of about 650,000 registered HGVs in the UK). CBHH is addressing the need for infrastructure by raising equity to finance the roll-out of dedicated commercial vehicle charging while the up-front capex and ongoing running costs of eHGVs move towards parity with diesel.
“CBHH has advised Aegis on its £100m funding commitment from Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and is currently in discussions with investors on funding Voltloader, a vertically integrated eHGV haulage and charging operation, largely on its customers’ sites. We raised capital for Hylane, a zero-emission truck leasing business based in Cologne, Germany and are actively raising capital for a pan-European truck-stop aggregation platform.”
One of the major hurdles for investors in this sector continues to be market risk, subject to operators being able to show contracted offtake revenue. Both Aegis and Voltloader have been able to demonstrate the growing willingness of fleets and end users to underwrite a significant proportion of projected utilisation. This support from customers encourages the installation of charging infrastructure, thereby enabling them to transition from diesel trucks to eHGVs. We see this trend continuing towards a tipping point (already seen in China and other parts of South-east Asia) of eHGV adoption in the UK and Europe.
Agricultural Infrastructure
The last 10 years have seen substantial capital flows into large-scale agricultural properties, particularly in the USA and Australia, and to a lesser extent into Chile, Spain and Portugal, driven primarily by Canadian and US pension funds. The key requirements have been scale and a secure political/legal environment, as well as opportunities for yield and capital growth at the property level. These capital flows have slowed in the last 2 years in response to higher interest rates and the ramp-up in capital values.
“As the agri investment sector continues to develop, we now see increasing activity in more private equity-style opportunities involving businesses that are vertically integrated, particularly in citrus, berries, olives, nuts and fresh produce. We see activity in the markets we cover – the Iberian Peninsula, Chile and Peru, where there have been roll-up investments involving US- and UAE-backed groups. There is also activity in the controlled environment space (greenhouses), particularly businesses involving renewable energy and waste heat.”
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