Adani Group to buy Macquarie Asia's four toll stretches for Rs 3,110 crore

August 05,2022

Adani Road Transport, the arm of Adani Enterprises Ltd, has entered into a pact to purchase Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund's two stretches in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, respectively, at a valuation of Rs 3,110 crore. The deal, subject to regulatory and lenders' approval, is expected to close in September 2022, Adani said in a notification.

Adani's wholly-owned subsidiary would acquire Gujarat Road and Infrastructure Company Ltd (GRICL), currently owned 56.8 per cent by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund, and Swarna Tollway Private Ltd (STPL). IL&FS owns a 26.8 per cent stake in GRICL and the Gujarat government owns the rest.

At present, STPL is completely owned by Macquarie Asia.

Once the deal gets through, Adani would acquire 56.8 per cent in GRICL and a 100 per cent stake in STPL.

STPL has two stretches of toll roads in Andhra Pradesh -- Tada to Nellore on NH-16 and Nandigama to Ibrahimpatnam to Vijayawada on NH-65.

GRICL has two stretches of toll roads in Gujarat -- Ahmedabad to Mehsana on SH-41 and Vadodara to Halol on SH-87.

Krishna Prakash Maheshwari, CEO of Adani Road Transport, said, "ARTL is committed to the Adani Group's nation-building initiative with a portfolio of more than 5,000 lane km of highway projects under construction/operation. This is one of the largest portfolios of toll road assets with high quality, strong team, long and robust track record of growth and strong cash flow generation with low leverage."

Adani Group also stated that post-acquisition of the stake in GRICL, it would also evaluate acquiring the IL&FS stake.

Deep Gupta, Managing Director and Co-Head of Macquarie Asset Management's Real Assets business in SEA and India, said, 

"Macquarie Asset Management has been one of the earliest and largest infrastructure managers in India. Over our period of ownership, both STPL and GRICL have undertaken capital expenditure for better user experience and have improved health and safety standards for workers and road users. This transaction demonstrates our continued capabilities in driving growth and adding long-term value to infrastructure assets in India."

The Gautam Adani-led Group has announced a slew of deals this year along with bidding in the 5G spectrum auction for creating "a private network to support its businesses and data centres."

Meanwhile, shares of Adani Enterprises settled 0.43 per cent higher at Rs 2,723.20.