Soham Renewable Energy India, the Bangalore-based renewable energy generator, is set to raise private equity investment of Rs 375 crore from SBI Macquarie. SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund is a $1.5 billion fund managed through a joint venture between the State Bank of India (SBI) and Macquarie Capital (Macquarie). IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is a cornerstone investor in the joint venture and this fund and has invested in major energy projects including with GMR Infrastructure and Moser Baer.
This is the third round of the private equity investment Soham is raising, having earlier raised from other blue-chip PE players like DE Shaw and FE Clean. SBI Macquarie is taking up this investment through the CCPS (Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares) instrument and Rs 125 crore has been drawn down by Sohan Renewable.
Soham presently generates 37 Mw in Karnataka and is enroute to adding another 67 Mw, almost all in Karnataka involving a cost of around Rs 450 crore. The company in addition to raising the latest round of private equity is also close to raising debt of around Rs 300 crore from SBI, ICICI, Andhra Bank, Axis Bank, IDBI and Syndicate Bank among others.
Elaborating on the investment, Sanjith S. Shetty, Managing Director, Soham Renewable said, “We are proud to have investors of the stature of the D E Shaw group and SBI Macquarie invested in our company. SBI Macquarie is a leading infrastructure fund investing and focused on India, and their in-depth understanding of the infrastructure sector as well as their commitment to green energy make them an ideal partner for our Renewable Energy business.”
He further added that with the fresh infusion of fund, Soham will be taking up the inorganic route and is already in talks with various hydro-projects in Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and other states. “Our roadmap is that we should be generating a total of 250 Mw within the next five years time,” he noted.
Suchindra S Shetty, Director Soham Renewable added: “Energy deficit that Karnataka and most of India is facing is a commonly-known fact and we are proud our power projects will contribute towards addressing that deficit, besides creating employment opportunities and augmenting the socio-economic development in all the areas where SREIPL’s projects are coming up, through Soham Foundation, which as of on Monday touches the lives on a daily basis, of over 6,000 school going children in Rural India.”
