HEC Paris and Antin Infrastructure Partners create a Chair dedicated to private equity and infrastructure

As public funds are currently scarce, the financing of infrastructure by private equity firms is experiencing rapid growth in Europe. This requires specific expertise in order to manage large scale and increasingly complex long-term projects.

By creating this Chair, HEC Paris and Antin Infrastructure Partners are responding to these challenges. More specifically, the Chair is aiming to support excellent academic education and complement the practical training of high-level professionals by explaining the value creation tools used by infrastructure funds as part of their investments.

This new Chair, which will become effective from January 2018, demonstrates HEC Paris's willingness to participate actively and visibly in the progress of management science, and thus to continue being one of the leading institutions where this knowledge is produced and shared.

The Chair will develop a series of practical case studies based on investments made by Antin in Europe across the energy, transport, telecommunications and social infrastructure sectors, under the aegis of the HEC Foundation and the direction of Professor Denis Gromb. These case studies will initially be solely available to HEC Paris students but will subsequently be made accessible to a wider audience.

Denis Gromb, Professor of Finance at HEC Paris and chair holder says, “By creating the ‘Private Equity and Infrastructure’ Chair, Antin is supporting academic research and higher education in a broader sense alongside HEC Paris. The work carried out by this Chair will contribute to the formalization of knowledge of private equity in the field of infrastructure and its impact on societal welfare, as well as imparting this knowledge to students from various HEC Paris programs. I am delighted to be participating in this exciting project with Antin’s team and I look forward to launching our different workstreams.”

Peter Todd, Dean of HEC Paris, adds:  "Research is an essential component of an internationally renowned business school such as HEC Paris. Our reputation is largely determined by the relevance of our knowledge and the quality of the innovation developed by our faculty. This new Chair created with the support of Antin demonstrates our determination to strive for academic and teaching excellence.”

“Since the infrastructure sector is experiencing strong growth in Europe, we would like to actively support this growth and help train professionals with regards to this exciting business, which requires increasingly varied expertise and an international approach. We are therefore honoured to sponsor the Private Equity and Infrastructure Chair of HEC Paris, a world-renowned management school,”  said Alain Rauscher, CEO of Antin Infrastructure Partners.

At HEC Paris, the faculty is at the heart of the creation and sharing of knowledge. The faculty, 64% of whose professors are international, conducts internationally recognized research in all major management disciplines. HEC Paris has been a pioneer in the introduction of case studies in France, introducing it to its curriculum since the 1950s. Through its diversity and quality, the work carried out reflects HEC's open-mindedness and intellectual demands. In 2016, five HEC Paris cases were published by the CCMP, Centrale de cas et medias pédagogiques (Centre of case management and educational media).            

Denis Gromb is a Professor of Finance at HEC Paris. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique, where he also earned his doctorate in economics. His research focuses on corporate finance, corporate governance, banking, the economics of organizations and the limits to arbitrage in the financial markets.  His articles have been published in the main academic journals in economics and finance. Denis Gromb has taught Finance at MIT (1995-2001), London Business School (2001-2008), and INSEAD (2008-2015). He was also a visiting Professor at the London School of Economics (2007-2008).

About HEC Paris 

Specializing in management education and research, HEC Paris offers a complete and unique range of educational programs for the leaders of tomorrow: Masters programs, Summer Schools, MBA, PhD, Executive MBA, TRIUM Global Executive MBA, open-enrolment and custom executive education programs. Founded in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HEC Paris is a founding member of the Université Paris-Saclay.  It boasts a faculty of 138 full-time professors, more than 4,400 students and over 8,000 managers and executives in training each year. HEC Paris was ranked the second best business school in Europe by the Financial Times’ overall business school rankings in December 2016. www.hec.edu @HECParis

About the HEC Foundation 

Founded in 1972, and officially recognized as a non-profit organization, the HEC Foundation contributes significantly to the HEC Paris’ budget, financing 7% of the schools operating costs each year. Its mission is to support the ambitions of HEC Paris around 3 main axes:

- Promote access to HEC Paris for all talented students regardless of their financial and geographical backgrounds (Grande École, MBA, PhD) through scholarship funding (46%).

- Supporting pedagogical innovation, around the strategic axes of the school : digital, entrepreneurship and social responsibility (34%)

- Developing cutting-edge research by attracting top research professors and by creating a favorable working environment(20%) 

Today, the HEC Foundation counts:

- more than 2,500 annual donors

- 45 corporate partners

- a team of 13 staff and 80 volunteers

About Antin Infrastructure Partners

Antin Infrastructure Partners is Europe’s largest independent infrastructure investment firm. Based in Paris and London, and fully owned by its 11 partners, it employs over 60 professionals. Antin manages three funds invested in European infrastructure and targets majority stakes in the energy and environment, telecom, transport and social infrastructure sectors. Since its creation Antin has raised €7.4bn from more than 100 institutional investors and has invested in 16 businesses in Europe.

Press contacts

Antin IP : Antoinette Darpy / adarpy@tobnext.com / + 33 (0) 6 72 95 07 92

HEC Paris : Leyla Douci-Habane / douci@hec.fr / + 33 (0)1 39 67 94 23