L&T completes divestment of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects to Edelweiss Alternatives backed platform

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced the completion of the divestment of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (LTIDPL)

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced the completion of the divestment of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (LTIDPL), a joint venture between L&T and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) holding 51% and 49% shares respectively.

The company said in a filing to the stock exchanges that the deal is in line with L&T’s strategy to exit non-core businesses for reducing its exposure to the asset heavy developmental projects portfolio thereby enhancing its return on equity.

Both L&T and CPP Investments’ stakes have been acquired by Epic Concesiones, an investee company of Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus Strategy, managed by Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors Limited (EAAA), it said. Edelweiss Alternatives is a large alternatives platform in India with assets under management of over ₹52,100 crore as of December 2023.

The portfolio comprises seven operating roads and one power transmission asset in India, spanning about 4,400 lane-kms, Edelweiss said in a release. With this acquisition, the infrastructure platform will scale up to 26 assets, comprising about 5,000 lane-kms of roads, nearly 1,800 ckms of power transmission assets and about 813 megawatt peak (MWp) of renewables with cumulative annual revenue of approximately ₹3,000 crore, it said.

The company stated that the acquisition is in line with the infrastructure yield strategy to generate regular distributions for investors by acquiring quality operating infrastructure assets with strong cash flows and unlocking value through active asset management.

Sreekumar Chatra, Managing Director, Infrastructure Yield Strategy at Edelweiss Alternatives, said this acquisition is a significant milestone for the business. “These assets have a proven track record of revenues and operations, which are geographically dispersed and have long residual life. With our strong asset management and operating capabilities, we are confident of creating further value in the portfolio, and scale it up further,” he said.

Shares of L&T have gained over 5.5% since the beginning of the year. The stock has risen nearly 63% in the last one year.