Old Lane, Mauritius to invest $26mn in Sical Infra

Old Lane Mauritius IV, an investment vehicle of Old Lane India Opportunities Funds wil invest $26 million in Sical Infra Assets, a 100% subsidiary of Sical Logistics.

According to an official release issued by Sical Logistics to the BSE today, the investment will help to fund its growing infrastructure business.

The company formed Sical Infra Assets to house its asset-heavy, capital-intensive, longer gestation infrastructure based businesses like the multimodal logistics hubs at Nagpur, Sical Iron Ore Terminal at Ennore, Container Rail Project, the Container terminals along with PSA Singapore at Tuticorin and Chennai as well as Sical Distriparks. The decision to segregate the short cycle service oriented businesses from the longer duration BOT type assets was to crystallize the value of investments made by Sical into its SPVs.

Sical chairman Ashwin C Muthiah said, "We appreciate this opportunity to associate with Old Lane as a equity partner in Sical Infra Assets. Old Lane shares our vision to build world-class infrastructure, for delivery of seamless integrated multimodal logistics solutions to our customers. I am confident that the existent services business and the asset heavy infrastructure business will feed off each other and provide efficiency to the infrastructure business as well as quantum growth in value / volume to Sical's services business."

Both, the movement of assets from Sical Logistics to Sical Infra Assets and the flow of investment of $26 mn from Old Lane, are expected to be complete by February 2008.