Cube Highways in talks to sell stake to Canada pension fund for $200 m

NEW DELHI: Singapore-based Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte Ltd is in stake-sale talks with Canadian pension fund Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) to raise around $200 million.

Both have invested heavily in India’s infrastructure sector.

Cube Highways is a joint venture between private equity firm I Squared Capital and International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank.

CDPQ, the second-largest pension fund in Canada, has invested around $3 billion till date in the infrastructure sector in India, where it set up an office in March 2016.

“Cube Highways is in talks with CDPQ to raise around $200 million,” said a person aware of the development, requesting anonymity.

“Cube Highways has been trying to raise capital,” said another person who also didn’t wish to be identified.

Cube Highways has around 1,000 lane-km of highways in its portfolio. This is through the Jaipur-Mahua Tollway Private Ltd, Mahua Bharatpur Expressways Ltd and Western UP Tollway Ltd.

I Squared Capital plans to invest as much as $1 billion in India’s infrastructure sector. It has already invested around ₹1,000 crore through its investment platform Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte Ltd and has committed to investing in assets worth ₹2,000 crore to its rooftop solar platform Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Queries emailed to Gautam Bhandari, founder of I Squared Capital, and spokespersons for Cube Highways, IFC and CDPQ on Monday remained unanswered.