BNP Paribas to acquire 5% in Srei Infrastructure

The deal would give BNP access to a wider infrastructure finance market in India

French group BNP Paribas has decided to acquire 5 percent stake in Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SREI) while exiting the unlisted outfit Srei Equipment Finane Ltd (SEFL), an equal joint venture with SREI.

In a regulatory filing with BSE, listed company SREI on Monday said BNP Paribas Lease Group, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas group, will sell/transfer its 50 percent holding in SEFL to SREI.

The BNP Paribas Lease will sell its holding in SEFL to SREI at a price determined as per the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) guidelines.

The sale consideration will be equal to the total consideration which BNP Paribas Lease will pay for acquiring 5 percent stake in SREI, the latter said.

The price for 5 percent stake in SREI will be higher of (a) the average of weekly high and low of the volume weighted average price of the equity shares of SREI during the 26 weeks preceding the closing date of the acquisition (b) the two weeks average price of high and low of SREI stock preceding the date of acquisition calculated as per market regulator guidelines.

According to SREI, the French group believes that it would be beneficial for it to be a shareholder in the company to take advantage of the opportunities in the infrastructure sector.