Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is increasing its stake in the Interise Trust, an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) that owns highway assets, by buying out Allianz Capital Partners.
Allianz Capital, an alternative asset management unit of German financial services major Allianz, will sell its entire 13.48% stake in Interise, valued around Rs 1,900 crore ($226 million), to OMERS. The move will lift the pension fund’s holding in the InvIT to 34.76% from 21.28% currently.
In addition, Allianz Capital will sell its entire 25% stake in Interise Investment Managers Ltd, the InvIT’s investment manager, to OMERS, whose affiliates already own a 25% interest in it, according to a regulatory filing by the InvIT.
Allianz first invested in the InvIT in 2018 by acquiring a 25% stake. Its stake diluted after Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and OMERS invested in the InvIT. CPPIB now owns a 60.8% stake in the InvIT.
OMERS first invested in Interise in 2019, putting in $122 million. It invested a similar amount last year, too.
Interise was earlier known as IndInfravit Trust and was founded in 2018 by Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro. It has a portfolio of highway projects,
In July, VCCircle reported that Interise saw a 53% uptick in its consolidated revenue from operations for 2023-24 and managed to substantially shrink its consolidated net loss for the year. Interise improved its financial performance despite a sharp rise in its interest costs and operating expenses.
Despite facing headwinds, Interise in 2023-24 managed to expand its portfolio by acquiring four operational assets from Brookfield Asset Management in an all-cash transaction valued at Rs 8,270 crore. The deal was first announced in June 2022 and was closed a year later, making it one of the biggest acquisitions in the Indian highways sector till that time.
The Brookfield acquisition added to Interise’s existing portfolio of 13 operational road concessions with approximately 5,000 lane km spread across five states.
