Blackstone Infrastructure Partners has taken encouragement from Boris Johnson’s backing of HS2 in its decision to invest in Britain

An American infrastructure investor with a $14 billion war chest is preparing to pump money into Britain.

Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, a fund created by the eponymous private equity group, which is seeking to break the record for the largest of its kind, is forming a London-based team to back deals in the UK and Europe.

For months, senior executives at Blackstone have talked up Britain as one of the best places in the world to buy assets at bargain prices. The company, founded in 1985, has $571 billion under management for pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and institutions and individuals.

Boris Johnson has promised an infrastructure spending blitz in northern England to reward voters who gave the Conservatives a big majority in December’s general election.