IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd (ITNL) has submitted its Expression of Interest to the Chongqing Expressway Group Company Ltd (CEG) for acquiring 49 per cent equity stake in Chongqing Yuhe Expressway Co, Ltd that operates 58 km of Yu He Expressway in Chongqing in south-west China, with the toll concession rights till 2032.
In March 2008, ITNL had acquired Elsamex SA of Spain, a road maintenance, operation and management company, for €50 million. The Spanish company has presence all over South America.
Incorporated in 2000, ITNL (formerly Consolidated Transportation Networks Ltd) specialises in the development, implementation, operation and maintenance of surface transport infrastructure projects, both in India and abroad. The company constructs and operates national and state highways, roads, flyovers and bridges under the build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) model. It also provides maintenance services, primarily for highways and roads, in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, as well as advisory & project management services for road projects.
In November 2009, Bessemer Venture Partners acquired 2.4 per cent stake in ITNL worth Rs 100 crore. Other PE investors in the company include Goldman Sachs Strategic Investments and Standard Chartered IL&FS Asia Infrastructure Growth Fund who acquired 5 per cent each in the company. IL&FS holds 78.75 per cent stake in the firm while the rest 5.35 per cent is held by IL&FS EWT after the sale to Bessemer.
China has witnessed an investment of $178.77 billion in the transport infrastructure space, up 11.5 per cent from the previous year. Incidentally, China’s road transportation serves 27.2 billion passengers, up 7.7 per cent from the year before, according to China’s ministry of transport. Cargo by road has also increased 15 per cent to 23.07 billion tonnes, the ministry adds.
