Ardian is looking to profit from a shake-up of the oil industry after raising a $2.89billion infrastructure fund.
The private equity firm said half of the new fund is targeted at the transport sector and half on energy.
The company said it predicts low oil prices will trigger dramatic changes in the sector.
Mathias Burghardt, head of infrastructure at Ardian, said: “Oil groups are divesting mid- and downstream assets and we are ready to invest in some of these, having done two such deals already.
“As an indication of the change, Saudi Aramco has announced plans to divest stakes of some oil-related assets and we will look at them,” he said, adding the new fund could invest 20% of its money outside Europe.”
Ardian is also understood to have a keen interest in northern Europe, but is still to decide on whether to invest in German gas network operator Thyssengas.
The French company manages or advises on the management of $50billion in assets.
It was the private equity investing arm of French insurer AXA until it was spun off two years ago in an employee buyout.
It said the new fund was the biggest that had ever been raised to invest in European infrastructure.
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