IndiGrid proposes to acquire ENICL for Rs 1,020 crore

IndiGrid, India's first power sector infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), has approved the acquisition of East North Interconnection Company Ltd (ENICL) transmission company at a value of Rs 1,020 crore.

The acquisition will be funded by internal accruals, proceeds from the preference issue done in May 2019 and new debt. It will increase assets under management of IndiGrid by 10 per cent to Rs 1,210 crore.

ENICL is part of Inter-State Transmission Scheme (ISTS) network and consists of two 400 kilovolt transmission lines with a total 900 circuit km across Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.

It is a strategic asset which is crucial for power exchange across the northeastern and eastern region of India. IndiGrid had signed an extension of the right of first offer (ROFO) deed with Sterlite Power for ENICL.

"Our strategy is to focus on accretive acquisitions to provide superior total returns to investors," said IndiGrid's Chief Executive Officer Harsh Shah.

"We are committed to growing IndiGrid with the accretive acquisition of operating projects with long-term stable cash flows and low counterparty risks to achieve Rs 30,000 crore of assets under management by 2022 while providing predictable and growing distributions to our investors," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

IndiGrid owns eight operating projects consisting of 18 transmission lines with more than 4,900 circuit km length and four substations with 7,735 megavolt amp transformation capacity. It is managed by Sterlite Investment Managers Ltd which is majority-owned by KKR.

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