NIIF, KKR, Adani bidders for Brookfield's India road business

Close to a dozen suitors have shown interest in acquiring Peak Infrastructure, the Indian road platform of Brookfield Asset Management, said multiple people aware of the development. About 12 non-disclosure agreements were signed with the interested parties and bids will be in by December-end, said one among the sources.

KPMG is advising Brookfield on the sale process. The deal size may range between $1.2-1.5 billion (Rs 11,000 crore) of enterprise value, said the sources. The names of the potential buyers include KKR, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), Adani Group, Cube Highways, Macquarie, Actis, Canadian funds - CPP Investments and CDPQ, IRB Infrastructure and Edelweiss Infrastructure. French infrastructure major Vinci Concessions, which has been looking for a re-entry in India, may also bid for the assets.

CPP Investments will bid through IndInfravit Trust, the infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) owned by CPP Investments and L&T Infrastructure Development Projects.

Established in 2015, Peak Infrastructure consists of five roads which are under long-term concession agreements with the National Highway Authority of India such as Mumbai Nashik Expressway, Simhapuri Expressway, Rayalseema Expressway, Gorakhpur Infrastructure Company and Kosi Bridge Infrastructure Company. Peak Infra was set up after its acquisition of road assets from Gammon India.

It includes up to 2,427 lane km of national highways and 103 toll booth operations that serve over 1.2 lakh vehicles each day, said a company website. Two other roads - Andhra Expressway and Rajahmundry Expressway, acquired from Gammon India, were successfully managed and handed over to NHAI. Spokespersons with Brookfield, CPPIB, CDPQ, KKR, NIIF and Edelweiss declined to comment, while mails sent to Macquarie, Cube Highways, Vinci, Adani and Actis did not elicit any response.

In 2019, Brookfield had tried to sell its 150-km Mumbai-Nasik Expressway and engaged in talks with several players such as Cube Highways and IRB Infrastructure. However, the deal didn't fructify.

"Road traffic volume will grow 12-14% in the current fiscal, driven by economic recovery, continued industrial production, and increased preference for personal mobility fuelled by the pandemic, after declining 4-5% in the last one," said a recent Crisil report. Resilient performance of the sector through the pandemic and adequate liquidity maintained by players would continue to support their credit profiles, it added.