Hinduja Renewables, the green energy arm of the Hinduja Group, has joined the race to acquire a majority stake in renewable energy firm Fourth Partner Energy, two people aware of the development said.
Hindujas are shortlisted for the next round as are other contenders – Brookfield Asset Management Inc, Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS), and US fund I Squared Capital.
The deal involves buying private equity firm TPG Capital’s 52% stake in Hyderabad-based Fourth Partner Energy at an enterprise value of $650-700 million (Rs 5,300 crore) and additional primary capital infusion. Bank of America and Investec are advising TPG for the exit, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.
TPG Capital, through its impact investment arm The Rise Fund SF Pte, holds 52% in Fourth Partner. In 2018, The Rise Fund invested $70 million into Fourth Partner Energy and acquired a majority stake. TPG, along with the other shareholder Norfund, invested Rs 1,247 crore in total.
Founded by three partners in 2010 as a Solar products and EPC company, Fourth Partner Energy is India’s leading distributed solar energy firm focusing on building and financing solar projects across the private and public sectors for commercial, industrial and institutional entities. It has executed and distributed solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 950 MW across 24 states in India for about 200 corporate and government clients.
Fourth Partner Energy’s current portfolio includes projects across a range of commercial and industrial clients, such as Axis Bank, Big Basket, Britannia, EY, Unilever, Glenmark, Mahindra, ITC, ICICI Bank, Schneider, D Mart and Walmart. It is currently operational across Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, too.
Spokespersons with TPG, Brookfield and OMERS declined to comment, while mails sent to Hinduja Renewables and I Squared Capital did not elicit any responses.
In 2021, Fourth Partner Energy had raised $125 million funding from Norwegian government-owned private equity fund Norfund and The Rise Fund. In 2019, Bank of America had extended a $50-million (‘357 crore) debt to Fourth Partner for expanding into new projects. Fourth Partner Energy has raised debt financing from UK’s CDC, Zurich-based responsAbility, Symbiotics SA and Oikocredit.