Private equity firm Peppertree Capital Management has raised US$1.214 billion through its Fund IX.

The Ohio group intends to use the capital to invest in towers, fibre, small cells, and distributed antenna systems (DAS).

The fund is the Peppertree’s ninth and according to a SEC filling had the minimum investment accepted from any outside investor set at $5 million.

Peppertree secured a range of limited partners for its Fund IX including San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) which contributed up to $75 million, the University of Michigan which has also committed up to $75 million, and Arlington County Employees’ Retirement System (ACERS) which committed $15 million.

Peppertree was formed in 2004 and has more than $2 billion under management.

The group has made more than 110 investments in communication infrastructure companies in 12 countries.

Virtually all of its capital is from institutional investors including insurance companies and university endowments.

In addition to sponsoring tower, DAS and communication rooftop developers, fibre network operators and spectrum auction participants, Peppertree seeks investments in real estate related to its areas of focus, non-telecom infrastructure projects and other businesses and assets with contractually recurring revenue.