Standard Chartered PE commits $83m to Indian power business

This is said to be the first foreign investment in India's power transmission sector, with most overseas players having focused on power generation.

Sterlite Power Grid Ventures (SPGVL) is the largest private developer of power transmission systems in the country, with six projects across 10 states. They are run on a build-own-operate-maintain basis. Three of these projects - featuring more than 2,000 kilometers of transmission lines and two substations - are in the final stage of completion. The other three will start operating from the 2017 financial year onwards.

The transaction will be structured as a convertible bond issue, with SCPE taking a minority stake in the business.

"We believe that our partnership with Sterlite group, a long-standing and highly valuable client of Standard Chartered Bank, will help the build-out and strengthening of the transmission infrastructure in India," said Udai Dhawan, managing director and India head at SCPE, said in a statement.

Parent company Sterlite Technologies supplies fiber optic infrastructure, power conductors and power cables to a network of global customers through local operations in India, China and Brazil. The company reported net revenue of $633 million in the 2013 financial year, up from $546 million a year earlier. Net profit was static at $9 million.

SCPE provides expansion capital and acquisition finance to companies with principal operations and management in Asia, Africa or the Middle East. It also participates in management buyouts. The principal investment arm of Standard Chartered Bank, it has invested $5 billion in more than 100 companies since its 2002 inception.

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Industrials
• Infrastructure
• South Asia
• Standard Chartered Private Equity
• India
• energy
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• Growth capital