MC EXCLUSIVE Edelweiss Alternatives planning to file for Rs 2,500-crore IPO of roads InvIT next month

This will be the second InvIT from EAAA

EAAA India Alternatives Limited, earlier known as Edelweiss Alternatives, the alternatives arm of Edelweiss group which invests in private credit, infrastructure and other asset classes, is planning to soon file draft papers for the IPO of its roads infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), eyeing a fundraise of around Rs 2,500 crore, people aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

This will be the second InvIT from EAAA, which in November 2022 launched its energy trust called Anzen Energy Trust with assets under management of Rs 2,300 crore. Anzen, however, is a privately placed trust, unlike the roads InvIT, which will be a publicly traded trust like India Grid Trust and IRB InvIT Fund. Moneycontrol first reported about EAAA’s plans on 10 February.

EAAA is working with investment banks Axis Capital, Ambit Capital and ICICI Securities for the proposed share sale, the people cited above said, adding that the draft papers are likely to be filed in December.

With its InvIT IPO plans, EAAA joins others like KKR and I Squared Capital, which are planning to take their InvITs public, as well as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)I, as reported previously by Moneycontrol, adding to a pipeline of InvIT IPOs that are likely to raise over Rs 20,000 crore from the public markets.

NHAI’s InvIT, which will comprise of highways owned and managed by the state authority, is expected to raise around Rs 10,000 crore through the share sale, while the I Squared Capital backed Cube Highways Trust’s public offer is expected to be around Rs 5,000 crore and the KKR-sponsored Vertis Infrastructure Trust deal is expected to raise almost Rs 3,500 crore.

Also Read: InvIT IPOs gain momentum with deals worth over Rs 20,000 crore in the pipeline.

Several other infrastructure investment trusts too are contemplating going public, the sources cited above said, a trend that has been sparked by a sharp jump in domestic investor interest for long term stable yield generating assets.

Moneycontrol reported on 27 October that in the months of September and October, seven InvITs, including KKR-sponsored Vertis Infrastructure Trust and the Edelweiss-backed Anzen Energy Trust, have seen secondary transactions worth almost Rs 6,000 crore, as per data from stock exchanges shows.

Large secondary trades were also recorded in other InvITs including Cube Highways Trust, NDR InvIT Fund, IRB InvIT Fund, and India Grid Trust.

The strong domestic appetite reflects how InvITs, once the preserve of global infrastructure and pension and sovereign funds, are now attracting family offices, high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) and domestic institutional investors such as insurers, mutual funds, and corporate treasuries, seeking predictable, inflation-linked returns.

EAAA highways portfolio

EAAA invests in infrastructure assets through its Yield Plus Funds, which have assets under management of close to Rs 12,000 crore. Currently, it is investing out of its second fund called Infrastructure Yield Plus II

In April 2024, EAAA closed its biggest acquisition of roads when it acquired a portfolio of assets from Larsen & Toubro Infrastructure Development Projects Limited for an enterprise value of 6,000 crore. The portfolio included seven toll road projects spanning 4,400 lane kilometers and one 960 circuit kilometres power transmission line.

The acquisition helped EAAA’s infra fund’s road holdings to reach 5,000 lane kilometers.

The infrastructure fund’s most recent purchase was the announcement of the acquisition of a portfolio of 11 hybrid annuity model (HAM) roads from construction firm Ashoka Buildcon Limited and its subsidiary Ashoka Concessions Limited in a Rs 2,324 crore deal. These roads are spread across the states of Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

EAAA declined to comment on the development.