At least six firms including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have shown interest to acquire a majority stake in Finnish state-controlled utility Fortum Oyj’s 500 megawatts (MW) Indian solar projects, a media report said.
The other suitors are Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc., private equity firms Actis and KKR, Macquarie Group and India’s Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus Fund, Mint reported, citing two people it didn’t name.
The stake sale is potentially being valued at up to €500 million and may rank among the largest in India’s green energy space.
These projects will be brought under a new platform, in which new investors will contribute significant equity. The new solar project platform, co-funded by Fortum, is expected to develop around 500MW every year in India and overseas.
Meanwhile, Eurokids, which is backed by US private equity giant KKR & Co, is in advanced negotiations to buy Nasik-based international school Fravashi Academy for close to Rs 227 crore ($30 million), according to a report in The Economic Times.
Eurokids was acquired by KKR in September last year from Gaja Capital and some other investors. Late last year, Eurokids was reported to be in talks to acquire Asia’s largest preschool chain Kidzee from Zee Learn.
