IL&FS to finally close its road InvIT; draft papers to be filed with Sebi this week 

IL&FS to finally close its road InvIT transaction; draft papers to be filed with Sebi this week

After a long delay, the IL&FS group is finally set to close its road InvIT (infrastructure investment trust) with the draft prospectus of the same expected to be filed with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) this week, sources aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

IL&FS had registered an InvIT named Roadstar Infra Investment Trust with Sebi in December 2020.

“The InvIT structure, though proposed a long time back, had been stuck so far due to various approvals from different authorities. Six road assets are being put under the InvIT as against the original plan of 9-10 assets,” said one of the sources cited above.

These assets have an approximate enterprise valuation of Rs 8,500-9,000 crore. Lenders of these assets will be allotted units of the InvIT which will provide regular payouts to the lenders through the toll collected by these road assets.

Sebi had given them a deadline of March 31, 2024, to list the units of the InvIT, the source said. The process needed several exemptions from Sebi, which came in last week and the draft prospectus will be filed this week, maybe as early as Tuesday, the source said.

The successful closure of the InvIT transaction will help resolve a substantial part of the road vertical’s outstanding debt.

IL&FS declined to comment on the development.

The debt resolution

The infrastructure and financial services group, whose collapse in 2018 triggered a liquidity crisis for the financial services system of the country, had debt worth around Rs 1 lakh crore that was handed over to a government appointed board led by veteran banker Uday Kotak in October 2018 for resolution.

As of September 30, 2023, IL&FS said that it had discharged an aggregate debt of Rs 35,650 crore by way of monetization of assets, auto debits by banks and debt repayment, including interim distribution.

Also Read: IL&FS repays Rs 35,650 cr to lenders, works on debt resolution for Rs 22,000 cr more

The group said that it had completed an aggregate payment of approximately Rs 10,000 crore by way of interim distribution across 14 companies - including two vertical holding companies and the group holding company IL&FS Ltd.

With these resolutions, IL&FS has completed over half of its Rs 61,000 crore of estimated debt resolution target.

Major asset monetisation efforts of the government appointed board of the company include the sale of the group’s iconic headquarters in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex to Brookfield for a consideration of Rs 1,080 crore in March 2022 and the sale of its 26 percent stake in ONGC Tripura Power Company to Gas Authority of India Ltd at a valuation of Rs 1,227 crore.