The Indian joint venture arm of Dutch tank storage firm Royal Vopak NV is set to raise Rs 800 crore ($95 million) from a consortium of investors led by a Bain Capital-backed wealth management firm. This development comes as it explores a listing on the country’s stock exchanges.
Aegis Vopak Terminals Ltd (AVTL) a joint venture of Vopak and one of the largest operators of third party tank storage terminals for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and other chemicals in India, is getting the equity injection by a group of investors led by wealth management firm 360 ONE, in lieu of a 3.4% stake. Vopak’s stake in AVTL will come down from 49% to 47.3% following this stake sale.
AVTL will use the proceeds from the stake sale to retire a part of debt on its books and also to execute several projects, the company said in a release on Tuesday.
It did not, however, provide any other financial details, including on the quantum of the debt that will be retired following the stake sale. It also did not identify any of the other investors that made up the consortium.
This stake sale comes three months after AVTL announced fundraising plans including the possibility that it could launch an initial public offering (IPO).
On Tuesday, the company again said that it was still exploring the option of an IPO, among other options. “AVTL continues to explore options to fund growth through potential fund raise by way of public issue, preferential issue or combination thereof of the equity shares and debt as may be decided by AVTL’s board,” the release said.
AVTL owns and operates a network of tank storage terminals having an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 1.50 million cubic meters for liquid products and 70,800 metric tons of static capacity for LPG as of 30 June, 2024.
Outside of India, Royal Vopak provides storage facilities at ports across the world. These facilities are for products including liquids and gases that provide energy for homes and businesses, chemicals for manufacturing products, and edible oils for cooking.
The Bain Capital-backed 360 ONE (formerly IIFL Wealth & Asset Management) is an alternatives focused firm that manages assets of the order of $68 billion and caters to 7,500 high net worth individuals (HNIs) and ultra HNIs. It offers alternative investment funds (AIFs), portfolio management services (PMS) and mutual funds to investors.
Its funds invest in public and private equities, fixed income and real estate. In July it appointed Raghan Iyengar as its new chief executive officer. Iyengar had succeeded Manoj Shenoy.
Earlier this month, 360 ONE announced that it had backed Tamil Nadu based A4 Hospitals via its healthcare and life sciences fund.
As per its annual report, 360 ONE’s asset management business had Rs 72,248 crore in AUM as of the end of March this year. Of this Rs 38,313 crore was the AIF AUM, Rs 24,355 crore in PMS and Rs 9,580 crore in mutual fund assets.
Among private equity investments in 2024, 360 ONE has invested in Anarock Property Consultants, Vastu Housing Finance, TA Associates and in hearing solutions provider HearZap.