3i invests Rs 300 cr in Supreme Infra road projects

Private equity firm 3i, announced an investment of $61 million (around Rs 300 crore) for a minority stake in a portfolio of road BOT (build-operate-and transfer) companies of Supreme Infrastructure India Ltd (SIIL). The investment was done through 3i's $1.2 billion India Infrastructure Fund.

SIIL is a construction and infrastructure company in India, focused on roads, bridges, power, water, railways and civil construction and infrastructure among other activities, with its primary focus firmly in the roads and highway sector along with other verticals of infrastructure.

Since it was set up in 1983, SIlL has built over 400km of highways, and has an order book currently standing at Rs 5,700 crore of which the unexecuted order book is Rs 3,750 crore, said the company in a press statment .

Anil Ahuja, Managing Director and Head of 3i Asia, commented on the transaction: “SIBHPL offers us the opportunity to expand our presence in the road sector in India through a portfolio of high quality road BOT projects.

3i, an investment fund established by international investor 3i Group, has been investing from its $1.2 billion India Infrastructure Fund. Since the fund started its operation in 2007 it has invested in Adani Power, Soma Enterprises, Krishnapatnam Port Company, KMC Infratech Limited, GVK Power and Infrastructure and Ind Barath Energies Utkal.

Last year, in March it invested $45 milliom for a minority stake in Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal), a subsidiary of Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited. It also invested Rs 500 crore (BOT) road projects of Hyderabad-based KMC Constructions.

Cressida Hogg, Managing Partner of 3i Infrastructure, said: “This is an exciting investment in the growing Indian road sector, one of the target sectors for the 3i India Infrastructure Fund.”

“We are growing fast and find ourselves at a point of inflection, wherein inculcating global best practices and inducting high quality investors will help us go a long way in fulfilling our vision to be a leading infrastructure company from India,” said Vikram Sharma, Managing Director of SIIL.