US private equity (PE) firm I Squared Capital-owned roof-top solar power platform Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd has acquired American solar power developer SunEdison Inc.’s roof-top solar power assets in India, said a top executive of Amplus.
“We have concluded the sale of SunEdison’s roof-top solar assets, which marks the first effective sale of SunEdison’s assets in India,” said Sanjeev Aggarwal, managing director and chief executive at Amplus.
The US solar energy company initiated the sale of its Indian assets after ballooning debt led it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 22 April, Reuters reported. In its bankruptcy filing, the company said it had assets of $20.7 billion and liabilities of $16.1 billion as of 30 September 2015.
Amplus has acquired around 7 megawatts (MW) of SunEdison’s roof-top assets, which gives the firm access to new marquee clients, said Aggarwal.
“The assets that we have acquired are of their private sector clients, which includes marquee clients like Whirlpool, Intel, Standard Chartered and Delhi Metro,” he said.
The portfolio of assets is spread across states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, he added.
Aggarwal did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.
Amplus’s existing customers include companies such as Walmart, Yamaha and Hilton Hotels, amongst others. The company now has more than 30 customers and is operating over a hundred sites.
With the acquisition of SunEdison’s roof-top solar assets, Amplus now has a portfolio of around 30 MW, spread across the country.
In August 2015, Mint had reported that I Squared Capital is investing up to $150 million in Amplus Energy Solutions, which sets up distributed solar power generation projects in India
Earlier in June, in an interview with Mint, Gautam Bhandari, partner at I Squared Capital, said that the PE firm has committed to Amplus that it would invest in assets worth Rs.2,000 crore.
According to Aggarwal, Amplus is looking at increasing its portfolio to around 150-200 MW in the next 24 months.
“We are very clear that over a period of 24 months we want to create a portfolio of 150-200 MW. That is a sizeable portfolio,” he said.
While the company is open to more acquisitions, it is also focusing on greenfield projects. “We have an active pipeline of around 100 MW which we are in discussions with several clients. Most of the MNCs today are looking at green energy as part of their CSR efforts,” he said.
The Indian government has set an ambitious target of achieving 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by the year 2022, of which roof-top solar power would contribute about 40 GW.
I Squared Capital, founded in 2012 by former Morgan Stanley executives, is an independent global infrastructure investment manager that is focused on energy, utilities and transport in North America, Europe and some high-growth economies.
The firm has raised a corpus of $3.8 billion. So far in India it has invested over Rs.1,000 crore across three road assets through its investment platform Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte Ltd.
Source:Livemint
