Cisneros firm taking aim at infrastructure projects
Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and others have launched a New York firm to invest in infrastructure projects.
Cisneros and principals of New York investment bank Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co. have started American Triple I Partners to invest client capital in projects requiring $25 million to $50 million in equity.American Triple I will target transportation, information technology and “smart city” projects in second- and third-tier U.S. markets.
Cisneros is chairman and co-chief investment officer of American Triple I.
American Triple I will raise funds from pension systems, insurance companies, university endowments and high net worth individuals, and invest in infrastructure projects that can generate revenue and a return for investors, Cisneros said.
A classic example would be a toll road, he said, with investors being paid back with toll money. Others examples include mass transit, airport terminals, power systems and broadband communications.
“Here’s the simple fact: the country has a $2 trillion deficit to get its infrastructure up to what is considered standard,” Cisneros said. “It’s getting older, it’s overcrowded, (and) in some case (it’s) depleted. There isn’t enough money in the public sector through the normal debt mechanisms to pay for that.
“That’s why it’s not getting done.
“So our nation is going to have to explore means to unleash private capital and put it into infrastructure projects,” he added.
Triple I refers to infrastructure, innovation and investment. The company is working on six projects being developed on a “oneoff basis,” Cisneros said.
“In due course, we will raise a fund and the goal at that point will be something in the $500 million range or so,” he said. “Investors want to see a track record.”
American Triple I will employ seven, including Cisneros and two others in its San Antonio office at 454 Soledad.
CityView, a company that invests in urban residential housing projects and is chaired by Cisneros, operates from that address.
Cisneros, a former U.S housing secretary from 1993 to 1997 under President Bill Clinton, is chairman of the executive committee of Siebert Cisneros Shank.
Siebert Cisneros Shank is a public finance firm that finds investors to buy bonds floated by governments or public entities for infrastructure projects.
Company officials say they have managed more than $2 trillion through some 6,000 municipal bond offerings, and helped finance the infrastructure needs of hundreds of state and local entities.
Cisneros and his business partner, Victor Miramontes of San Antonio, in 2015 acquired a 29 percent stake in the firm, the San Antonio Express-News reported two years ago.
The company added Cisneros’ name in 2016.
David J. Cibrian, a San Antonio investment professional, has been named American Triple I’s chief executive and co-chief investment officer.
Other owners of American Triple I are: Suzanne Shank, Siebert Cisneros & Shank’s chairwoman and CEO; William C. Thompson Jr., a former comptroller for New York; Gary Hall, chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board; and Cisneros’ son, John Paul Cisneros, a former investment professional at Palladium Equity Partners.