Private equity major KKR is planning to sell up to $300-million worth of stake (approximately Rs 2,633 crore) in its roads infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), Vertis Infrastructure Trust, sources have told Moneycontrol.
KKR holds a 71.66 percent stake in the InvIT. Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is the second largest shareholder with a 24.99 percent stake.
The secondary stake sale by KKR is being planned to gauge investor demand for the InvIT’s units ahead of the equity firm’s plans to take the InvIT public through an initial share sale, sources said.
InvITs, which hold infrastructure assets such as toll roads, renewable projects or transmission lines, are yield-generating investment vehicles that distribute the cash flows from the underlying projects.
Moneycontrol reported on July 29 that KKR and I Squared Capital were planning to launch IPOs of their private InvITs - Vertis and Cube Highways Trust - to raise around Rs 4,000-5,000 crore each. The InvITs are eyeing these initial share sales to tap a broader set of investors, especially domestic institutional investors
KKR declined to comment on Moneycontrol’s query.
KKR’s plans for a secondary stake sale in Vertis follows similar trades by sponsors of other InvITs such as Cube Highways and Anzen Energy Trust.
In June, Anzen Energy Trust sponsor Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus sold units worth Rs 224 crore through secondary trades to domestic institutional investors and family offices.
Cube Highways’ sponsor Cube Mobility Investments Pte Limited sold units worth Rs 516 crore. In September 2024, Cube’s sponsors had sold shares worth over Rs 1,600 crore.
The secondary trades in multiple InvITs represent a growing demand from domestic investors for long-term yield generating assets, the sources said, adding the product is witnessing good demand from family offices, corporate treasuries, HNIs and other institutional investors.
Vertis portfolio
The KKR trust, formerly Highways Infrastructure Trust, manages assets worth around Rs 25,000 crore, comprising 27 project stretches and covering a total of 8,100 lane kilometres across 10 states.
In 2024, the InvIT signed an agreement to acquire 12 road projects from PNC Infratech Ltd for an enterprise value of Rs 9,005 crore.
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