Mumbai-based Financial Technologies (India) Ltd has sold a 5.46 per cent stake in Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (IEX) to a subsidiary of agri-processing equipment maker Milltec Machinery Pvt Ltd. Milltec is also a portfolio company of PE firm Multiples, an existing investor in IEX.
According to a stock market disclosure, FTIL has sold the stake to Agri Power and Engineering Solutions Pvt Ltd by transferring 16,55,557 equity shares. Although the value of the transaction was not disclosed, given the valuation in its recent share sales, the deal would be worth Rs 117.4 crore ($18 million).
Early this week it sold 1.58 per cent stake in IEX to Madison India Opportunities III for Rs 33.96 crore ($5.2 million).
Last month, the company tweaked the share purchase agreement that it had signed in June this year to divest bulk of its remaining stake in IEX to a clutch of investors. It said it will sell 19.06 per cent stake in IEX for Rs 410 crore (approximately $62 million) to the same buyers instead of 16.6 per cent as agreed earlier.
FTIL had signed a deal in November last year to sell its entire holding to a group of investors led by private equity firm TVS Capital for Rs 576.84 crore ($94 million), valuing IEX at Rs 2,250 crore ($366 million then).
However, the agreement got terminated due to non-fulfilment of certain conditions and a notice was issued to the firm by Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai in February stipulating not to divest its assets.
Earlier this month, TVS Capital also picked a small stake in IEX in its first new deal in almost a year after a previously announced transaction to invest in the electricity trading platform was scrapped. It bought the stake from existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP).
IEX offers an online electricity trading platform for trading, clearing and settlement operations. As per its site, over 800 private generators and more than 2,800 open access consumers are leveraging the exchange platform to manage their power portfolios.
It also counts several other private equity and venture capital investors including Multiples PE and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
FTIL had been selling stake in IEX in tranches to comply with a regulatory decree after it was declared unfit along with its promoter Jignesh Shah to hold stake in any stock exchange or clearing corporation. FTIL landed in trouble after its subsidiary NSEL got into a payment crisis worth Rs 5,600 crore.