Fairfax India Holdings Corp, the publicly listed private equity-style investment platform of Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, is preparing to list Anchorage Infrastructure Investment Holdings Ltd on the Indian stock exchanges, according to a filing.
Anchorage was set up in 2019 as a wholly owned unit of Fairfax India Holdings to become its flagship company to invest in India’s airport sector and for airport privatisation projects.
The listing of Anchorage will allow Fairfax to monetise its five-year investment in Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which operates the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru city.
Fairfax did not specify the timeline for listing Anchorage but said it will first close a transaction involving OMERS, the pension plan for Ontario’s municipal employees, by March this year.
This deal pertains to 2019, when Fairfax India said it would transfer 43.6% of the 54% stake in BIAL to Anchorage. OMERS would then pay about $130 million to acquire 11.5% of Anchorage from Fairfax India.
This transaction valued BIAL at $2.6 billion.
VCCircle had first reported about Fairfax roping in OMERS as a co-investor to support its game plan in India last year.
Interestingly, OMERS has an existing exposure to India. Moreover, its affiliate companies have been seeking to invest in the nation.
In 2019, OMERS Infrastructure Management acquired a 22% stake in an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd. OMERS Infrastructure invests in infrastructure assets across the world on behalf of its parent, which has C$95 billion in net assets.
OMERS is also an investor in Fairfax-backed CSB Bank and is believed to have invested in mortgage lender HDFC Ltd as well.
Fairfax India, formed in 2014, raised nearly $1 billion via a public offering in early 2015. It has mopped up more capital since then.
In late 2017, the company said it was planning to mop up $1.5 billion more to invest in India, but it is not clear if it raised the entire corpus. In June 2018, the firm said it had mobilised $550 million in debt to retire a loan.
