After selling 205 megawatt (MW) of its operational solar energy portfolio to the Adani Group, the Essel Group has reached an agreement to sell the remaining 480 MW — currently under construction — to Adani Green Energy, two people with direct knowledge of the development said.
The Adani Group has agreed in principle to buy out the remaining portfolio, one of the people said.
“Adani Green is big on renewable power and has over 5.5 GW of portfolio with almost half of it already operational. After acquiring Essel Group’s solar assets in Punjab, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, they have agreed to buy the remaining assets too, once Essel Group operationalises them,” he added.
Adani Group did not respond to an email till press time on Sunday. A spokesperson for Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group said it was exploring various proposals from prospective partners. “Any additional details cannot be shared at this stage due to confidentiality agreements,” the spokesperson said.
Adani Group had signed an agreement in August this year to acquire the 205 MW of operational solar assets for Rs 1,300 crore. Essel Group’s total solar energy portfolio consists of 685 MW of installed and under-construction projects. At the time of deal, Essel Group said it was also in talks to sell the remaining assets.
The sale of solar energy assets was part of Essel Group promoters’ overall divestment process to reduce debt and repay lenders.
A significant portion of the promoters’ debt has already been paid after they sold 26.7% stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprises to institutional investors. The group is also selling non-media assets to square off debt within those companies.
ET had reported earlier that Essel Group promoters were in talks to sell six of 14 road projects to National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), including four operational and two under-construction toll roads. The deal has, however, not been finalised yet.
Source: Economic Times