Power transmission investment trust IndiGrid on Tuesday said it has completed the acquisition of its ninth transmission asset from Sterlite Power at a value of USD 134 million or Rs 1,020 crore.
With the acquisition of East North Interconnection (ENICL) from Sterlite Power, IndiGrid’s assets under management (AUM) will increase by 10 per cent to USD 1.6 billion, the company said in a statement.
Its portfolio will increase to nine power transmission projects with a total network of 20 power transmission lines spanning across more than 5,800 circuit kilometres across 13 Indian states.
Commenting on the acquisition, IndiGrid CEO Harsh Shah said, “this acquisition is in line with our strategy to acquire accretive assets with long term certainty of cash flows. Our focus is to not only ensure stable distribution to unit holders by owning assets with long term contracts but also grow it with accretive acquisitions.”
The acquisition has been funded by internal accruals, proceeds from the preference issue done in May last year and new debt, the company said.
For the purpose of refinancing the existing debt in ENICL, IndiGrid has availed funding of Rs 900 crore from Axis Bank.
With this acquisition, IndiGrid’s net debt/AUM will be at 49 per cent, the company said.
Shah further said that IndiGrid has another Rs 6,500 crore worth pipeline of transmission projects under the framework agreement with Sterlite Power providing visibility of Rs 18,000 crore worth of AUM over the next two years.
ENICL is a part of the Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) network developed by Sterlite Power, and consists of two 400 KV transmission lines with a total 900 circuit kilometers across Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.
Source: Reuters.com