American asset manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is all set to sell its Indian clean energy platform, Vector Green Energy, in a potential deal worth ₹5,000 crore ($700 million).
GIP has about 700 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar energy assets under Vector Green Energy, most of which it had acquired from IDFC Alternatives in 2018.
GIP is in discussions with various investment bankers including Rothschild, Standard Chartered and JP Morgan and a mandate will be signed after Diwali, multiple people aware of the development told ET.
Vector Green has an estimated Ebitda of $80 million for FY22, said sources aware of the plans.
Aditya Aggarwal, Partner & CEO, Global Infrastructure Partners Singapore, declined to comment.
Vector Green’s portfolio includes 19 ground-mounted utility scale projects located across eight states and 89 rooftop solar projects on 216 roofs across seven states in India. An additional 90 MW of solar projects are under implementation in Gujarat. Vector Green had expanded its portfolio in 2019 by acquiring about 225 MW solar generation capacity from RattanIndia.
Recently, Vector Green Energy had raised ₹1,100 crore of loans from the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) to fund its operating solar projects.
Vector Green Energy has been awarded the rating of AAA by Crisil for its select group of solar power generating plants aggregating 356 MW.
The most significant attribute of this portfolio is that 97% of the capacity is contracted with the best off-takers of the country viz. SECI and NTPC, through 25 year fixed-tariff power purchase agreements, said a Crisil report.
GIP is one of the world’s largest infrastructure-focused investors that manages over $71 billion (₹5.3 lakh crore) of assets including over 15GW of renewable projects. GIP entered India in 2018 by acquiring an infrastructure asset management business from IDFC Alternatives.
In July, GIP had sold Highway Concessions One (HC1), its India road platform consisting of seven highway assets with a total length of 487 kms, to global PE fund KKR at an enterprise value of ₹3,500 crore.
Another global infrastructure investor Actis is also launching a formal process to sell its Indian clean energy platform Sprng Energy. Actis has mandated Bank of America to sell the platform, which currently has an operational portfolio of 1.7 GW.
