National Investment and Infra Fund emerges top bidder for Mahindra Susten’s solar assets
The major operational assets that are to be sold include a 337.5 MW solar park at Rewa, Madhya Pradesh and an 84.5 MW plant at Charanka, Gujarat
MUMBAI: The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is the frontrunner to acquire about 617 megawatts (MW) worth assets of Mahindra Susten, the solar energy EPC platform owned by the Mahindra group, outbidding global private equity funds Brookfield Asset Management Inc and KKR, two people aware of the development said.
The major operational assets that are to be sold include a 337.5 MW solar park at Rewa, Madhya Pradesh and an 84.5 MW plant at Charanka, Gujarat.
NIIF has offered Rs 3,500 crore in enterprise value, with an equity value component of Rs 1,180 crore for the assets.
If the deal materialises, it would be the first major acquisition by NIIF in the renewable energy space. NIIF is already an investor in CDC-owned Ayana Renewable Energy and Everstone Capital-owned Eversource.
Other funds involved in race were Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Actis and Edelweiss Infra.
Spokespersons for Mahindra Susten and NIIF declined to comment.
ET reported in November that Brookfield, NIIF and KKR were shortlisted for the assets.
Mahindra Susten, formerly known as Mahindra EPC, builds and sells solar power projects and has a portfolio of 1.5 GW.
The Mahindra group has identified the business as non-core to its portfolio and has been divesting assets. It has mandated investment bank Rothschild to help find potential suitors. The group has identified several sub-scale companies to exit or scale down.
Earlier in February, Mahindra announced the sale of three solar projects to CLP India for Rs 340 crore.
NIIF, set up by the government in February 2015, manages $4.3 billion of capital commitments across three funds. It counts CPPIB, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, AustralianSuper, ADB, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, PSP Investments, Temasek, Axis Bank, HDFC Group, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance as investors, apart from the government, as investors.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes
