OMERS to buy 19.4% stake in Azure Power for $219 mn

Canada-based Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) Infrastructure announced that it has inked a stock purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire a 19.4% stake in Azure Power Global for $219 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IFC Global Infrastructure Fund (GIF) Investment Company. The company told the media that Azure Power has a 2 GW of operational renewable capacity, and 5 GW of renewable capacity is in the pipeline or awarded. The transaction is estimated to be finished by August 2021. Ambit Private Ltd served as a financial advisor of OMERS Infrastructure. OMERS Infrastructure said that the company has an operational renewable energy capacity of over 2 GW across the globe including Leeward Renewable Energy, a renewable energy company that owns and operates 22 facilities of renewable energy across nine states in the United States. Executive Vice President and Global Head of OMERS Infrastructure, Annesley Wallace, said that this agreement demonstrates OMERS' global interest in high-quality renewable power and energy transition assets as well as interest in India as an investment destination. Managing Director, Asia, OMERS Infrastructure, Prateek Maheswari, said that the closing of this transaction would mark our second direct infrastructure investment in India, following our investment in the IndInfravit toll road platform in 2019. Recently, Azure Power inked a binding agreement to sell its non-core rooftop solar portfolio to Radiance Renewables worth Rs 5.36 billion. A 100% subsidiary of the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) Radiance, the leading Climate fund in India managed by EverSource Capital. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) acquired an additional 717,701 shares from a shareholder of Azure Power, in March 2020. Image Source Also read: Torrent Power wholly acquires 50 MW solar project in Maharashtra