Core plus infrastructure

Where essential services meet long‑term capital

Core plus infrastructure is the adjacency layer of infrastructure – businesses that provide essential, nondiscretionary services, exhibit high barriers to entry and deliver resilient and predictable cash flows.

What makes core plus infrastructure different?

Core plus investments combine the defensiveness of core infrastructure with stronger growth and value creation potential. They are essential, hard-to-replace businesses anchored by long-life real assets, contractual or structural protections and predictable cash flows resilient across economic cycles.

With pricing power to pass through inflation and limited obsolescence risk, core plus assets retain core-like stability while offering materially higher growth opportunities than traditional infrastructure.

Key attributes include:

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Recurring revenue

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Concession‑like relationships

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Regulated service obligations

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Embedded positions in supply chains

Unlocking infrastructure opportunities

Macquarie Capital is a global leader in introducing infrastructure investors to new sectors, uncovering businesses which display infrastructure characteristics, and peeling them back into consistent and common infrastructure drivers to match the right capital with the right risk-adjusted returns.

$A 75 b+

global infrastructure transactions

130 +

infrastructure specialists

30 +

locations around the world

Examples of our sector coverage

  • Agriculture
  • Asset rental
  • Cold chain
  • Consumer
  • Critical minerals
  • Healthcare
  • Industrial services
  • Maritime
  • Master service agreements
  • Metering
  • Modular buildings
  • Supply chain
  • Transport
  • Waste

Key drivers of the sector’s evolution

  • Global supply chains exposure
  • Demographic pressure from ageing populations
  • Energy transition reshaping capital needs
  • Geopolitical instability redefining ‘essential’ infrastructure

2026 Core+ Crossover Summit

Our Americas and EMEA Core+ summits bring together a curated group of infrastructure sponsors focused on investing in infrastructure-adjacent businesses, alongside private equity firms and their portfolio companies with strong infrastructure characteristics.

Attendees benefit from one-on-one meetings, panel discussions and dedicated networking sessions, creating an intimate forum to engage in meaningful dialogue on the Core+ space with leading minds across the sector. 

For more information on the Core+ Summit, contact our teams

Explore our expertise

Long-term growth in core plus

Adam Hain, Macquarie Capital’s Global Head of Infrastructure Advisory, shares what investors should keep in mind about core plus infrastructure and how Macquarie Capital can help find relevant opportunities. 

A guide to core plus

Core plus infrastructure refers to essential service businesses that exhibit many of the defensive characteristics of traditional infrastructure — such as resilience, barriers to entry and predictable cash flows — while also offering growth opportunities and requiring a more active ownership approach.

Traditional infrastructure is typically characterised by long dated, highly regulated assets with limited operational intervention. Core plus businesses often require greater strategic, operational and capital involvement, while still retaining infrastructure-grade fundamentals.

While core plus businesses may have previously been owned by private equity, they are typically more mature, essential and stable. The investment horizon is longer, leverage structures are more conservative, and the focus is on long-term value rather than short-term exit.

Core plus spans a wide range of sectors, including logistics and supply chain services, healthcare services, education, leasing platforms, environmental services, energy-related infrastructure, data and connectivity, and other essential service businesses.

Infrastructure investors often already understand these businesses through their ownership of core assets and adjacencies. Moving into core plus is a natural extension of their experience rather than a departure from it.

Our EMEA core plus specialists

Adam Hain
Global Head of Infrastructure Advisory

Michael van der Beugel
Managing Director, Infrastructure Advisory, EMEA

Warrick Booth
European Head of Private Capital Markets

Jeroen Mondeel
Senior Vice President, Infrastructure Advisory, EMEA

Americas core plus specialists

Robert Valentine
Head of Infrastructure, Industrials and Leasing, Americas

Brian Hogan
Head of Industrial & Environmental Services, Americas

David Porter
Managing Director, Infrastructure Advisory, Americas

Ross Bullington
Vice President, Infrastructure Advisory, Americas

APAC core plus specialists

Tom Butcher
Executive Director, Head of Infrastructure, APAC

Jessica Edwards
Division Director, Infrastructure Advisory (Renewables & Transport), APAC

Xavier Eid
Division Director, Infrastructure Advisory (Utilities & Transport), APAC

David Wickstrom
Division Director, Infrastructure Advisory (Resources & Renewables), APAC