Essel Highways Ltd, a subsidiary of Essel Infraprojects Ltd, is looking to secure Rs 400 crore ($60 million) from special situations fund Aion Capital Partners, a joint investment platform of Apollo Global and ICICI Venture.
Mint reported, citing two people aware of the development it didn’t name, that the planned funding is part of the Rs 1,480 crore ($220 million) fundraise through private placement of debt securities.
The Rs 400 crore funding is part of the $85 million the company got in loans from Goldman Sachs in August, the report said.
Emails sent to Essel Highways did not elicit any response by the time of filing this report. Aion Capital declined to comment.
The report also said that Essel plans to use the funds to finance new projects and strategic acquisitions. The talks are at an advanced stage between the two parties and are expected to be closed soon. Investors are looking at an internal rate of return of close to 16%, the report added.
Essel group entered the infrastructure sector in 2007 with an entry into the surface transport segment. It now has three business units—core infrastructure (transport and urban development), green energy and power transmission (solar, hydro, wind energy and power transmission), and smart utilities (utility distribution and environment).
The road developer has assets valued at about $1.8 billion and has a portfolio of 14 projects, 10 of which are operational, equaling more than 4,500 lane kilometers across six states, according to its website.
In March, Essel Green Energy Pvt Ltd, the solar asset holding company of Essel Infraprojects, secured financing of $132 million from diversified cash-rich firm Piramal Enterprises Ltd and Dutch pension fund manager APG.
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