A consortium of investors led by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and partnered by General Atlantic LLC (GA), Goldman Sachs Investment Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Everstone Capital and others has invested $425 million (around Rs 1,950 crore) in infrastructure company Asian Genco Pte (AGPL).
Meanwhile, PTC India and its financial arm, PTC India Financial Services (PFS), continue to remain investors in various AGPL projects along with other existing investors.
This financing deal represents the largest equity transaction in the Indian power sector to date.
“This financing is a strong vote of confidence in AGPL's professional management team and our projects. With this transaction, we have secured full equity financing for all our current slate of projects. In addition, we believe our investors will add tremendous value and financial strength to AGPL, as we grow our portfolio and expand our position in the clean power sector,” said AGPL Chairman Vijaykumar TV.
AGPL will use the proceeds to fund the development of its portfolio of power generation investments in India. Zeus Inframanagement was the sole advisor to AGPL for this transaction. To date, AGPL has invested in a portfolio of hydel, thermal and non-conventional generation assets for an aggregate capacity of nearly 4,000 mw at an estimated capital outlay of $4.5 billion (around Rs 20,700 crore).
"The funding will help the management in completing projects. Going ahead, we will look at the market and see how it goes. As of now, the company is fully funded and we (consortium) have to mutually arrive at this decision. Also, we have just invested, so it is early now. We have so far invested $200 million (around Rs 920 crore) from our $4-billion global infrastructure fund," said Gautam Bhandari, India head of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure.
For General Atlantic, this would be the first investment in the infrastructure sector in India. "Given its focus on renewable energy in a region with an enormous need for power, AGPL, GA's first investment in a portfolio of Indian energy & resources assets, represents an exciting growth opportunity,” said Ranjit Pandit, managing director at General Atlantic.