IndiGrid to acquire Virescent Renewable Energy Trust for Rs 40bn

IndiGrid said that its board of directors has approved the acquisition of Virescent Renewable Energy Trust (VRET) and its investment manager (IM) and project manager (PM) for INR 40 billion.

Virescent Renewable Energy Trust, which is sponsored by KKR, is an Indian renewable energy infrastructure investment trust (InvIT). Its portfolio includes 16 operational solar power projects through 14 special purpose vehicles (SPVs) across seven Indian states with a combined capacity of 538MWp.

The renewable energy InvIT’s shareholders include AIMCO, L&T, Utilico, and others. Its assets have approximately seven years of operational history and around 18 years of average remaining tenure with power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Following the acquisition, IndiGrid‘s assets under management (AUM) will move up to INR 269 billion, its net debt to AUM will become around 65%, and its overall solar power assets portfolio will be at 674MWp.

Harsh Shah — IndiGrid CEO and whole time director said: “Upon consummation, this will be a landmark acquisition for IndiGrid and will provide an impetus in the renewable space, augment asset management capability and result in sizeable accretion. VRET has aggregated a high-quality portfolio of assets and it will likely enable us to further increase our sustainable DPU run rate in the coming quarters.”

The deal which was signed after a competitive bidding process is conditional on the required regulatory and shareholders’ approvals.

Recently, IndiGrid wrapped up the previously announced INR 15 billion acquisition of Khargone Transmission Limited (KhTL), an inter-state transmission asset between NTPC‘s 1.32GW thermal power project at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh to the power transmission system. The asset was acquired from Sterlite Power.