France’s LPs share President Macron’s enthusiasm for infrastructure as the country pushes for more investment in the asset class
The 2025 Choose France summit, held by Emmanuel Macron in May, is the French president’s latest attempt to make the country ‘more attractive’ to foreign capital. Since its inception in 2018, the Choose France initiative has drawn over €87.8bn of investment into the EU’s second-largest economy.
Private equity firm EQT provided a boost to Macron’s ambitions by underlining the growing opportunity for infrastructure investment across the continent. Masoud Homayoun, the firm’s Head of Infrastructure, described the emerging possibilities as ‘more attractive and more interesting than they were just a few years ago’.
Recently in Preqin First Close, we explored France’s attempts to boost infrastructure investment. Here, we take a second look at some recent developments in the space, as well as what matters to French investors, according to Preqin data.
A report on the future of European competitiveness by Mario Draghi, former European Central Bank President, published in September 2024, highlighted the need for further private and public investment to enhance Europe’s market position. It outlines four areas that are crucial for improving productivity in the EU: the energy transition, digital technologies, defense, and innovation. The report indicates the need for a minimum annual investment of €750–800bn.
In a speech announcing the report’s publication, Draghi explained how previous investment in Europe ‘has been financed about 80% privately and 20% publicly’. Having conducted ‘simulations’ to assess the feasibility of such a split for ‘a large investment push’, he concluded that ‘we must make progress on Capital Markets Union, so that private savings can be channeled into investment across the whole EU’.
Furthermore, the European Commission introduced its Competitiveness Compass to the public in January 2025, with President Ursula von der Leyen highlighting the need for ‘speed and unity’.
The France 2030 program was launched by President Macron in 2021 to accelerate sustainable growth and industrialization by encouraging technological innovation and the emergence of new players. Recent developments suggest that the EU’s recommendations are already being implemented. France’s prime minister François Bayrou announced in April that €38bn has been invested in the project over the past three years.
France 2030 is part of the wider France Relance scheme, a €100bn investment and recovery plan launched with the financial support of the EU. France also received more climate and environment funding from the European Investment Bank than any other country in 2024, with €12.6bn allocated across public and private sector organizations.
Infrastructure has been a key focus of Macron’s presidency. The Green Industry Law, introduced in October 2023, aims to incentivize private financing while simultaneously addressing the loss of 2.5 million jobs caused by deindustrialization.
This measure was further facilitated by legislative changes affecting venture funds in July 2024, which simplifies the process of indirect investments via funds of funds. In theory, France was therefore better positioned to receive investors at the Choose France summit in Versailles in May this year. Although it suffered a 14% drop in foreign investment over the course of 2024, France remained the most attractive investment destination in Europe, owing to similar drops experienced by countries such as the UK and Germany.
Preqin data suggests that LPs share Macron’s enthusiasm for increasing investment. So far in 2025, 77% of French LPs’ infrastructure investment plans for the next 12 months reveal an intention to invest (or at least consider investing) in the asset class. Of those, 71% expressed an explicit preference for Europe, while 88% preferred unlisted fund vehicles.
Our data suggests that the investment landscape in France is improving. The proportion of investors who were positive about (or considering) investing in infrastructure over the next twelve months rose from 70% between Q3 2023 and Q1 2024 to 82% between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. This is consistent with developments across the continent. In the first quarter of this year, more capital was raised for European infrastructure ($39bn) than for any other region, despite a global decline in the number of funds targeting capital in the asset class for the first time since 2018.
More private capital was raised in France in the first quarter of 2025 than in the whole of 2024, providing renewed cause for optimism.
More analysis of fundraising developments in France will be available in Preqin’s upcoming Data Drop on the country.
Kerstin Weil is Assistant Editor of Preqin First Close, and Alfie Finch-Critchley is part of Preqin’s LP Research team.
Second look is edited by Libby Fennessy, Production Editor of Preqin First Close.
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The opinions and facts included in the above do not constitute investment advice. Professional advice should be sought before making any investment or other decisions. Preqin accepts no liability for any decisions taken in relation to the above.