Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte. Ltd, a road platform formed by I Squared Capital and World Bank’s International Finance Corp. (IFC), on Monday said that it has signed definitive agreements for a minority stake sale to an entity owned by sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
Cube Highways owns and operates more than 1,300 lane-kilometres of highways in India and also manages a diverse portfolio of toll and annuity-based roads.
Financial details were not disclosed. Edelweiss Financial Services was the sole financial advisor to Cube Highways.
Mint reported in March that Cube Highways was looking to raise $200 million through a minority stake sale.
Shareholders of Cube Highways will look to invest up to $1 billion in new capital for acquiring additional roads and highways, as well as into new platforms in areas such National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) toll-operate-transfer program, hybrid annuity model among others, according to the statement.
“Cube Highways, which we started from scratch, has built an experienced management team with world class engineering and operational expertise and has now become a recognized leader in the highways sector in India,” said Gautam Bhandari, director of Cube Highways and partner at I Squared Capital.
“We are pleased to partner with ADIA and IFC to further grow our highways portfolio in India, through careful selection of high quality assets. This new capital commitment comes at a very exciting time, especially following the positive reforms undertaken by NHAI and the ministry of road transport and highways,” he added.
I Squared Capital is an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities, telecommunications and transport in the Americas, Europe and select high-growth economies. The firm has offices in New York, Houston, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Source: Mint