Pt Capital, an Anchorage-based private equity firm investing exclusively in four Arctic countries, announced this week that it attracted more than $125 million to its inaugural fund.
Pt Arctic Fund I requires a minimum investment of $10 million and promises a compounded annual return of at least 20 percent, according to its brochure, filed in November with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the long term, Pt Capital anticipates investing in infrastructure for oil, gas and mining exploration and production, all sectors that in general are facing depressed markets due to high supply and lowered demand. For now it is focused on acquiring or taking majority ownership in resource extraction support companies, including housing, transportation, aviation, marine services and other general service areas.
Profits would be generated by altering the management practices and operations of those companies to improve financial performance and then selling them to "entities that have sophistication on a global scale," the brochure said.
Alaska Dispatch News publisher Alice Rogoff is a senior adviser for Pt Capital and holds founding stock in the parent company.
The fund is bullish on the idea that a warming Arctic will eventually open up a wealth of development opportunities in the oil, gas and shipping sectors in the next two to three decades. Its plan is to invest in Canada, Greenland, Iceland and the United States, specifically Alaska. Pt Capital chairman and CEO Hugh Short said more than half of the fund's resources would be deployed in Alaska.
Although the oil and gas sector is a key focus of the fund, Norway, a large, politically stable oil and gas producer in the Arctic, is not listed as part of its strategy.
Short said there is a substantial amount of private equity investment in Norway. Pt Capital, founded in 2013, is focused on what its managers determine to be promising emerging markets with "limited competition when it comes to private equity," he said.
"Our company intends to be around a long time. Our first fund is a huge milestone. We're not stopping here. We will continue to raise and deploy capital where we feel it makes sense."