Adani Group’s road infrastructure development arm, Adani Road Transport Ltd (ARTL), will acquire Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund’s stake in toll road projects Gujarat Road and Infrastructure Company Ltd (GRICL) and Swarna Tollway Private Ltd (STPL) for an enterprise value of ₹3,110 crore.

Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund holds 56.8 per cent in GRICL and 100 per cent in STPL.

“ARTL will acquire 56.8 per cent in GRICL and 100 per cent stake in STPL subject to regulatory approval. The transaction is expected to close in September 2022,” ARTL’s parent Adani Enterprises Ltd said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The GRICL portfolio has an LTM EBITDA of ₹456 crore with about ₹165 crore of net debt.

“This translates into an EV/EBITDA multiple of approx. 6.8x. The deal is subject to customary regulatory and lender’s approvals,” the statement said.

The acquisition of STPL gives ARTL strong foothold in Andhra Pradesh with two stretches of toll roads in the State i) Tada to Nellore 110-km stretch on NH-16 connecting important ports such as Chennai, and Krishnapatnam and ii) Nandigama to Ibrahimpatnam to Vijayawada on NH-65 spanning 48 km connecting key southern metro cities and providing feeder traffic to NH16.

“Together the STPL portfolio has demonstrated strong historical revenue growth,” ARTL said in a statement.

In Gujarat, GRICL’s two stretches of toll roads include i) Ahmedabad to Mehsana on SH-41 spanning 51.6 km with majority passenger traffic connecting important northern Gujarat corridors and ii) Vadodara to Halol on SH-87 spanning 31.7 km, which is on Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor with proximity to several industries.

Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund owns 56.8 per cent in GRICL, while IL&FS owns 26.8 per cent and Government of Gujarat owns the remaining 16.4 per cent.

“Post acquisition of the stake in GRICL, ARTL will also evaluate the acquisition of IL&FS stake in GRICL,” ARTL said.

Krishna Prakash Maheshwari, CEO of ARTL, said, “This is one of the largest portfolios of toll road assets with high quality, strong team, long and robust track record of growth and strong cash flow generation with low leverage.”

Deep Gupta, Managing Director and Co-Head of Macquarie Asset Management’s Real Assets business in S-E Asia and India, said, “Over our period of ownership, both STPL and GRICL have undertaken capital expenditure for better user experience and have improved health and safety standards for workers and road users. This transaction demonstrates our continued capabilities in driving growth and adding long term value to infrastructure assets in India.”

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