Exclusive: Ashoka Buildcon set to sell 11 roads to Edelweiss Alternatives for $277 million

Ashoka Buildcon set to sell 11 roads to Edelweiss Alternatives for $277 million

Infrastructure developer Ashoka Buildcon is set to sell a portfolio of 11 roads to Sekura, an infrastructure platform owned by Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus fund, for an equity value of around Rs 2,200-2,300 crore (approximately $265-277 million), two sources aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

The sale is expected to be announced in the next 2-3 weeks, they added.

“Edelweiss has been in discussions with Ashoka for the past few months. The final paperwork is being worked on right now and the deal is expected to be announced soon. This will be the biggest asset monetisation by Ashoka in several years. The company will use the funds to reduce debt and to fund development of ongoing and new infra projects in its pipeline,” said one of the sources cited above.

Of the portfolio of 11 hybrid annuity model (HAM) roads, nine are operational, while two are under construction. Ashoka Buildcon holds a 100% stake in four projects, while its subsidiary Ashoka Concessions holds the other seven roads.

These projects are spread across Punjab, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Gujarat.

Mails sent to the Ashoka group did not elicit any response. Edelweiss Alternatives declined to comment.

Asset monetisation plans

Ashoka Buildcon is also working on other asset monetisation programmes.

The construction company is working on selling its stakes in the Jaora-Nayagaon BOT road project and the Chennai Outer Ring Road for a consideration of Rs 691 crore and Rs 686 crore, respectively to the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.

Ashoka Buildcon recently completed the sale of its 51% stake in Unison Enviro Pvt Ltd to Mahanagar Gas Ltd for a consideration of Rs 562 crore.

It is also engaged in talks to sell a portfolio of five build-operate-transfer (BOT) road projects.

Sekura road acquisitions

In December 2022, Sekura signed a Rs 6,000 crore deal to acquire a portfolio of eight roads spanning 4,900 lane kilometres and one transmission project from L&T Infrastructure Development Projects and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Earlier, in 2020, it acquired two road projects totalling 119 lane kilometres from the Navayuga group.

Private equity investors have been busy this year acquiring operating road projects.

Last month, Highway Infrastructure Trust, an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) backed by private equity firm KKR, said that it has agreed to acquire a dozen road projects from PNC Infratech Ltd and PNC Infra Holdings Ltd for a total enterprise value of Rs 9,005.70 crore.

On February 8, Actis announced that it is acquiring a portfolio of four HAM road assets from construction firm Patel Infrastructure Ltd.