US private equity firm KKR on 5th July said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners’ (GIP) entire stake in Highway Concessions One (HC1) and seven highway assets with a total length of 487 kilometers.
HC1 is a platform that manages GIP’s India road portfolio which spans across seven states -- Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
“Roads are one of the largest and most crucial infrastructure assets in India, where the world’s second-largest road network is located. Rapidly increasing passenger and commercial vehicle traffic has driven the strong demand to expand the country’s road network even further and the reciprocal need for investment in the sector," said Hardik Shah, Managing Director and Head of India Infrastructure at KKR.
"This is why the transportation sector is a key area of our infrastructure strategy in India. We are truly excited to invest in a high-quality platform and through HC1 play a part in India’s transport infrastructure."
KKR made its investment from the KKR Asia Pacific Infrastructure Fund. The investment represents KKR’s third in India from the fund and the firm’s first investment in Asia’s transport sector. Recent infrastructure investments in India include India Grid Trust (IndiGrid), an infrastructure investment trust and Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy company. EY and Deloitte acted as KKR’s advisors while AZB & Partners and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as legal advisors to KKR.
