Department :

 Infrastructure

Location :

 Milan

Contract :

 Internship

Duration :

6 months 

Start date :

June 2023

Why Ardian?

 Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $150bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,400 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. Private Wealth Solutions offers dedicated services and access solutions for private banks, family offices and private institutional investors worldwide. Ardian is majority-owned by its employees and places great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 1,000+ employees, spread across 16 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Middle East are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility. 

At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.

Ardian.com

The role

This internship offers a unique opportunity to help shape the expansion of Ardian’s infrastructure investment activities in Italy and Europe. During the internship, you will work as a full team member alongside our investment professionals (within the Italian team as well as all the other Infrastructure teams globally) and gain insights into the exciting world of the private equity industry. Infrastructure Private Equity at Ardian means entrepreneurial and innovative thinking to find sustainable solutions for social and ecological issues while being a reliable partner to our stakeholders. We see ourselves as active managers of our portfolio companies and support our management teams on topics including digitalisation and decarbonisation. Ardian has made 55+ investments in essential infrastructure in Europe, North and South America since 2005. Our investments include renewables, hydrogen, power and gas networks, cellular towers, fibre networks, road transport infrastructure, and airports. We currently manage about $24 billion in infrastructure assets and invest from our Infrastructure Fund V, which raised approximately €6.2 billion in equity in 2019.

During the internship the candidate will have the opportunity to deal with:

• Collect and analyse information on target companies, their competitors and business sectors, as well as prepare materials for and participate to meetings with industry experts, managers, etc.
• Participate in the assessment of investment opportunities (business analysis, company modelling, company valuation, research of comparables, etc.).
• Participate in the investment process (including drafting the investment memorandum and reviewing due diligence work performed in various areas: commercial, financial, legal, etc.)
• Assistance with the asset management of existing portfolio companies (quarterly valuations, reporting, management of ad-hoc situations, etc)

Required skills

• The candidate should possess a broad set of quantitative, qualitative and interpersonal skills, and be a strong team player

• Intellectual rigour and discipline; ability to organise and perform work efficiently

• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office suite and a good knowledge of financial databases (e.g. Capital IQ, Cerved and Aida)

• Proactive style and strong communication skills

Profile

• Degree either completed or due to complete from leading business or engineering school or university. Minimum 2:1 or equivalent
  

• Strong commercial understanding of Private Equity

• Relevant prior internships in related fields (e.g. M&A, strategy consulting, leveraged finance, Private Equity, infrastructure, or transaction services at a leading auditing company)

• Excellent written and verbal Italian and English communication skills.

About the Team

The Infrastructure team at Ardian is an international leader in essential infrastructures. With assets of US$24bn managed or advised, the team’s funds invest in a comprehensive range of infrastructure assets, key to the populations, focusing in particular on energy, transport and telecommunications. Based in Paris, London, Luxembourg, Milan, Madrid, Frankfurt, New York and Santiago de Chile, the team has built trusting relationships and developed a deep understanding of how digitalization and climate change are transforming their sector. In that regard, the 60+ investment professionals are committed to drive innovation and anticipate the future of Infrastructure. Their strategy consists in creating a major renewable energy portfolio and introducing energy efficiency policies in all portfolio company.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

At ARDIAN, we are proud of our diverse culture. As a forward thinking organization, we recognize that having people from different backgrounds brings innovation and excellence. Therefore, a diverse and inclusive environment is key to our business success.

Ardian is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to our employees, applicants and candidates based on individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity and expression, age, national origin, mental or physical disabilities, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information, ancestry, marital status as a victim of domestic violence, pregnancy or child birth (including breastfeeding) or any other class protected by federal, state or local laws. It is our policy to comply with all applicable laws governing employment practices and not to discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of your employment including, but not limited to, hiring, placement and promotion.