CDPQ, Actis vie for Ashoka Concession's BOT road assets

Canada's CDPQ and UK-based Actis are in final discussions to acquire the build-operate-transfer (BOT) toll road assets of Ashoka Concessions, subsidiary of highways builder Ashoka Buildcon, said people aware of the development.

The sale process began a few months ago, after global investment firm KKR terminated its proposed transaction in May.

The equity value of the assets will be in the range of Rs 1,300-1,500 crore while enterprise value will be about Rs 4,500 crore, said people in the know.


Queries emailed to Ashoka Buildcon, Actis and CDPQ did not elicit a response till press time.

ET had first reported in September that Ashoka Concessions had restarted discussions to sell the assets and global funds, including Canada's CDPQ, were in early stages of talks to acquire the assets.

CDPQ is in talks through its infrastructure trust, Indian Highway Concessions Trust.

In 2021, Ashoka Concessions and Galaxy Investments II, an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), had signed an agreement for the sale of five BOT toll subsidiaries - Ashoka Highways (Bhandara), Ashoka Highways (Durg), Ashoka Belgaum Dharwad Tollway, Ashoka Sambalpur Baragarh Tollway and Ashoka Dhankuni Kharagpur Tollway for an aggregate consideration of Rs 1,337 crore. However, the agreement was terminated in May.

Ashoka Buildcon holds 66% stake in Ashoka Concessions, with SBI Macquarie holding the rest. SBI Macquarie had invested Rs 800 crore in Ashoka Concessions in 2012 through Macquarie-SBI Infrastructure Fund. Once the deal is materialised, SBI Macquarie will get an exit, receiving about ₹1,200 crore, according to the people cited earlier.

Earlier, the Indian government-backed NIIF had signed agreements to acquire Ashoka Concessions' stake in two road projects - Jaora Nayagaon Toll Road Company in Madhya Pradesh, and Chennai Outer Ring Road.

In 2022-23, toll projects recorded a year-on-year growth of 22% in collection to ₹1,117 crore from ₹918 crore in the previous fiscal. Toll collections are expected to increase to more than ₹1,200 crore this year, on the back of a modest increase in toll rates and moderate traffic growth, according to a recent report by Icra.

Actis, the London-based investor in sustainable infrastructure, had acquired a portfolio of six operating highway toll road projects - five hybrid annuity model (HAM) properties and one BOT road last year from Welspun Enterprises for an aggregate EV of ₹6,000 crore.

In August, Actis' road investment arm, Actis Roadstar Highways Holdings, acquired four HAM road assets, including two operational roads, from Patel Infrastructure.

Maple Highways, CDPQ's platform for the roads sector in India, is the sponsor of Indian Highway Concession Trust, which houses two assets - NCR Eastern Peripheral Expressway in the NCR, under ToT7, and Shree Jagannath Expressways in Odisha.