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Grapevine: Adani eyes coal-fired plant; Carlyle to invest in Axis Bank

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 20 Aug 2020
Grapevine: Adani eyes coal-fired plant; Carlyle to invest in Axis Bank
Credit: Pixabay

Adani Power is looking to acquire a 414 megawatt (MW) coal-fired plant near Chennai from OPG Power Ventures for up to Rs 1,200 crore ($160 million), two people aware of the development told Mint.

OPG Power Ventures is a thermal and renewable energy company listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market.

Other large thermal power companies like Tata Power and JSW Energy have announced that they will no longer be investing in greenfield thermal power projects.

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However, Adani Power can go for a purchase as it has access to coal mines in Indonesia and Australia and logistics facilities at major Indian ports, which help it manage input costs.

Adani Power has an installed thermal power capacity of 12.5 gigawatt and has already received approval from the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission to build a 1,320 MW thermal power plant in the state.

It acquired GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd for Rs 3,530 crore in June last year. It is also eyeing to acquire US-based The AES Corporation’s 49% stake in Odisha Power Generation Corporation for $135 million (around Rs.1,020 crore).

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In another development, private equity giant Carlyle is investing Rs 5,000 crore ($667 million) in Axis Bank, people in the know told The Economic Times.

Carlyle will be issued new shares and allotted warrants that will convert over a period of up to 24 months and it may also negotiate for at least one board seat, they said.

In the last 12 months, Axis Bank has raised Rs 22,500 crore in equity, the latest being Rs 10,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) earlier in August. The QIP involved participation from marquee investors including Norges Bank Investment Management, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Fidelity.

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It was previously reported in May that Carlyle may invest up to $1 billion in Bain Capital-backed Axis Bank.

Three years back, a Bain Capital-led consortium invested $1.8 billion (Rs 11,626 crore) in Axis Bank as confidence capital.

Also, SAIF Partners is in advanced talks to lead a Rs 100 crore ($13.3 million) funding round in dairy startup Country Delight at a valuation of Rs 1,000 crore ($133 million), persons in the know told Moneycontrol.

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Existing investors Matrix Partners and Orios Venture Partners are expected to participate in the round.

In February 2019, Country Delight raised $10 million led by Matrix at a supposed valuation of close to Rs 600 crore.

In June 2020, the company received investment from Matrix and Orios and got venture debt of Rs 7 crore from Alteria Capital.

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