Some of the leading global pension funds are vying for a stake in the latest renewable energy yieldco offering in India.
According to media reports, Canadian pension fund British Columbia Investments (BCI) and Dutch pension fund APG Asset Management are among several investors looking to acquire a stake in Mahindra Susten’s yieldco — commonly called an infrastructure investment trust, or InvIT, in India.
Mahindra Susten, part of the Mahindra Group, houses engineering, procurement, and construction as well as project development businesses. The project development business has 1.54 gigawatts of operational solar power portfolio. All of this is to be transferred to the new InvIT.
Mahindra Susten is reportedly planning to raise up to Rs 40 billion through sale of a minority stake. The company’s portfolio is spread across five states and is tied up in long term agreements of up to 24 years.
The Canadian fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board also holds a 30% stake in Mahindra Susten, which it acquired last year for $300 million. It will hold a stake both in Mahindra Susten and the new InvIT.
Mahindra’s will be the third renewable energy-focused InvIT in India. Virescent Energy and AnZen India Energy Yield Plus Trust being the other two — owned respectively by KKR and Eldelweiss. While both of them are privately held, two other power sector InvITs have public holding as well. These are Power Grid Corporation of India’s PGInvIT and KKR’s Indigrid.
As companies look to expand their renewable energy portfolio, many are looking to monetize their operational assets, which offer highly attractive yields to global pension funds and provide much needed capital to parent companies.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
