Actis to buy 400MW solar assets from Atha Group for ₹2,100 cr – EQ Mag Pro
The rupee deal may be sealed in two months and the assets will be transferred to Actis’ platform, Blupine Energy
NEW DELHI : Actis Llp has won the bid to acquire Kolkata-based Atha Group’s 400 megawatt (MW) solar power assets for an equity value of around $100 million, and the sale purchase agreement has also been signed, said two people in the know, requesting anonymity.
Avendus Capital ran the sale process for Atha Group, while Actis was advised by Kotak Investment Banking. Atha’s solar assets’ enterprise value for the deal was around ₹2,100 crore.
The rupee deal is expected to be completed in two months and the assets will be transferred to Actis’ green energy platform, Blupine Energy Pvt. Ltd, which develops grid-connected solar and wind power parks, besides commercial and industrial (C&I) projects.
Nine companies, including Torrent Power, Ayana Renewable Power, Sembcorp Industries and Actis, had evinced interest in acquiring Atha’s solar assets. In the end, Ayana and Actis remained in fray, with Actis placing the winning bid.
With Atha’s solar assets, Blupine Energy will have a 500MW portfolio, including 100MW of wind power assets it won at the auctions in Gujarat recently. Actis Energy committed $850 million in Blupine from its fifth fund.
Actis is also set to complete the deal for Indian renewable energy platform Sprng Energy at an enterprise value of $1.55 billion with energy giant Shell Plc. Sprng Energy has solar and wind power assets of 2.9 gigawatts (GW), of which 2.1GW is operational, and 7.5GW is in the pipeline. Blupine Energy is the third clean energy firm by Actis in India following its deal selling Ostro Energy to ReNew Power Ventures in 2018 at an enterprise value of $1.5 billion.
“This is the first merger and acquisition deal done by Actis for Blupine Energy, which has quickly built a 500MW portfolio,” said one of the two people cited above.
“These assets are well made and maintained and are from a strong promoter group. The process was on for more than one year,” said a second person.
An Actis spokesperson declined to comment.
“Atha Group as a policy does not comment on any ongoing discussions. We shall come back to you with a press release once discussions come to a closure,” an Atha Group spokesperson said in an emailed response.
Actis, which invests only in emerging markets, has so far committed $2.1 billion for the Indian market, spanning financial services, energy and real estate sectors.
Clean energy platforms in India backed by private equity investors include KKR’s Virescent Infrastructure and European alternative asset manager EQT and Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte.’s O2 Power.
Queries emailed to spokespersons of Avendus Capital, Kotak Investment Banking, and Shell on late Sunday night did not elicit any response till press time. Queries emailed to the spokespersons of Torrent Power and Sembcorp on Monday was not answered. Ayana could not be reached for comments on the story.
Green energy deals are back in play. Malaysia’s state-run oil and gas company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), is in talks with ReNew Energy for jointly setting up green energy projects in India, as reported by Mint on Monday. According to the plan, Petronas may acquire a 49% stake at the project level.
A consortium led by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co., has agreed to invest ₹4,000 crore for 10.53% stake in Tata Power Renewables.
Sajjan Jindal led JSW Group signed an exclusivity deal to acquire green energy producer Mytrah Energy India Pvt. Ltd in a potential $2 billion deal.
Source: livemint
