Macquarie Plans to Sell $2 Billion Indian Road Portfolio

13 Dec 2024 CW Team

Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), the world’s largest infrastructure asset manager, is looking to sell its largest road portfolio in India, consisting of nine national highway stretches, valued at approximately $2 billion. The sale process will begin early next year, with plans to appoint a banker by the end of December. MAM acquired the rights to manage 648 km of highways in Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Gujarat from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in 2018 for Rs 96.81 billion, which was 1.5 times the base price set by NHAI. These roads are part of the first Toll-Operate-Transfer (ToT) auction. The portfolio includes stretches along NH 16, which forms part of the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Kolkata and Chennai, and benefits from high traffic potential due to nearby industrial clusters and ports. The toll income for the nine stretches reached Rs 9.15 billion in FY23, showing a 12% improvement from FY22, driven by higher toll rates and increasing traffic. Around 70% of the revenue comes from six stretches in AP, which are strategically positioned near major ports like Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, and Krishnapatnam. MAM’s investment portfolio in India, which also includes toll roads and renewables, totals over $600 billion in assets under management. The firm is also exploring further investments in energy transition, digital infrastructure, and real estate. In a similar move, Canadian investor Brookfield Asset Management sold its road portfolio in 2022 to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $1.2 billion, while the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is looking to sell its Athaang Infrastructure portfolio, valued at $1 billion. MAM plans to deploy billions more in India in the coming years, citing the country's economic scale, investment opportunities, and favourable policy environment. (ET)

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