New Delhi: Cintra, a subsidiary of Spanish construction giant Ferrovial, has agreed to acquire a 24 per cent stake in IRB Infrastructure Trust from GIC Affiliates, IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd said on Thursday. Separately, Ferrovial in a press statement said it has agreed to acquire 24 per cent of IRB Infrastructure Trust for $810 million (about Rs 6,720 crore). “Completion of the acquisition is subject to fulfilment of conditions precedent, including receipt of requisite regulatory and third-party approvals,” IRB Infrastructure Developers said in a statement.
Ferrovial said the closing of the transaction, subject to certain regulatory approvals, is expected to occur by the end of April 2024. The acquisition price and outstanding equity commitments will be funded with equity and, potentially, non-recourse debt and other sources of financing, it added. “Ferrovial considers that this transaction completes its investment in the Indian market, reaching its internal size target,” the Spanish construction giant said, adding that future growth of IRB Infrastructure Trust will be assessed by Ferrovial and its partners on a project-by-project basis and is expected to be mostly funded by the platform distributions.
IRB Infrastructure Developers said it will also benefit from the growing EPC and O&M order book as the sole project manager to the trust, it added. IRB Infrastructure Developers CMD Virendra Mhaiskar said, “This is a vindication of the value creation IRB has been able to do in the Trust, which is India’s maiden development platform in the roads and highways sector”.
Cintra CEO Andres Sacristan said, “We’ll keep leveraging our complementary strengths and expertise to capture further value from the growth that IRB is having, while we keep collaborating with GIC and IRB”. IRB Infrastructure Trust is an Infrastructure Investment Trust registered with Sebi and listed on the NSE.
IRB owns 51 per cent of units in the trust while the balance 49 per cent is currently held by affiliates of GIC. The trust holds a portfolio of 15 road projects, spanning across 10,567 lane kms. Since its inception in 1998, it has built more than 18,500 lane kilometres of roads in India. India’s infrastructure development plans have expanded substantially in recent years with planned capital expenditures of 240 billion euro in roads and highways between the years 2020-2025, according to the Ministry of Finance report on the National Infrastructure Pipeline.
