Hinduja National Power Corp., part of the Hinduja Group, has acquired Kiran Energy Solar Power for around Rs1,000 crore, two people close to the development have said.
The company had last year initiated talks to acquire city-based Kiran Energy which is an integrated developer-operator and a pioneer of grid connected solar power plants in the country. Kiran Energy was founded by Ardeshir Contractor and Alan Rosling, a former Tata Sons executive director in 2010, and has an operational portfolio of around 85 megawatts (MW) now.
The company is also engaged in building solar clusters in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan with capacities varying between 50MW and 100MW. The people told PTI that the Hindujas have acquired Kiran Energy by buying out the private equity funds who own majority.
Three private equity players who are exiting the company are Argonaut Ventures, New Silk Route and Bessemer Venture Partners India which collectively own nearly 80% in the company. The founders Contractor and Rosling and a few others own the rest.
The Hindujas were not reachable for comments, but the people said the size of the deal could be in the range of Rs800 to Rs1,000 crore.
A few years ago, co-chairman of the Hinduja group Gopichand Hinduja, had said the group had plans to invest $1 billion to install 1000 MW of solar capacity.
Following this, Hinduja National Power had announced plans to expand its generation capacity to 10,000MW over the next decade at an expected investment of $10 billion. Total projected capacity will be a mix of thermal, hydro, nuclear and renewable energy, as per the company website.
Source: Mint