Actis intends to start a road InvIT in order to raise up to $2 billion

By siliconindia  |  Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Actis intends to start a road InvIT in order to raise up to $2 billion
UK-based global private equity firm Actis is looking to monetize a portfolio of operating road assets that it owns in India through an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), potentially raising as much as 1,500-2,000 crore, said two sources aware of the development. Last year, Actis acquired a portfolio of six roads - five hybrid annuity model (HAM) properties and one build, operate, and transfer (BOT) road - from Welspun Enterprises for an enterprise value of 6,000 crores ($775 million).
This was the first set of roads that Actis bought in India after expanding into the roads sector, following its success in the renewable industry, where it has sold two large platforms - Spring Energy and Ostro Energy. The six roads were acquired by Actis' Long Life Infrastructure Fund, which seeks to invest in stabilized operating assets within multiple infrastructure sectors and deliver a strong cash yield for investors. Actis has filed for the registration of the trust with the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). 
"They are waiting for approval of the trust from Sebi. Simultaneously, work is progressing on the draft prospectus of the InvIT, and they are likely to file the draft papers in a month's time. Axis Capital is advising Actis on the InvIT fundraising," said one of the sources cited above. The proposed fundraising of around 1,500-2,000 crore will mostly be used to repay or prepay part of the debt of the road assets.
"It is likely that at this point the entire portfolio may not be added to the InvIT, and these may be added at a later point. Other new roads that will be acquired in the future by Actis will also be dropped into the InvIT," the source said. The portfolio of roads includes five completed HAM assets Delhi-Meerut Expressway (Pkg 1), Chutmalpur-Ganeshpur, Gagalheri-Saharanpur-Yamunanagar, Chikhali-Tarsod, Maharashtra Amravati (Pkg 2) and one operating BOT toll asset - Mukarba Chowk-Panipat.

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