Private equity fund AMP Capital Finance Mauritius Ltd is investing Rs 200 crore ($50 million) in Gayatri Infra Ventures Ltd (GIVL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyderabad-based Gayatri Projects Ltd. GIVL is an investment and construction company in the transport infrastructure. AMP Capital will subscribe equity shares worth Rs 100 crore now and will invest further Rs 100 crore as and when the need arises.
GIVL will make downstream investments in firms involved in construction, operations and maintenance roads, highways, vehicular bridges and tunnels and toll roads. Gayatri Projects is involved in civil works projects including construction of concrete/masonry dams, national highways, bridges, airports, ports, among others. The advisors to the transaction were Ernst & Young.
The infrastructure firm currently has 13 projects under development which have an aggregate contract value of nearly Rs 1,600 crore. The shares of the company are currently trading at Rs 251 against their 52-week high of Rs 696.
Videocon Group, who had sold off its stake in Gayatri Projects in in the IPO of the latter in 2006 to 2i Capital and IL&FS Investment Managers, made more than 5x of its investment. Videocon had acquired the shares at a rate of Rs 48 per share and sold them at a price of Rs 275 per share.
AMP Capital Investors have been investing in the Asian infrastructure space since 1994. The group is also involved in financial services. The funds under management of the company are in excess of $97 billion. The firm has identified India as the next investment destination and had last year appointed Anoop Seth as Co-Head of Asia.
