Greenko Group back in race to take over Orange Renewable
NEWDELHI: Greenko Group is back in the running to buy Orange Renewable from Singapore’s AT Capital Group for about $925 million, in what may rank among the biggest-ever deals in India’s clean energy space, said two people aware of the development.
An official announcement on the deal is likely to be made shortly, said the two people, who did not wish to be named.
Greenko Group, backed by sovereign wealth funds GIC Holdings Pvt. Ltd and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, had in June agreed to acquire Orange Renewable at an enterprise value of around $1 billion. Hyderabadbased Greenko, however, later called off the deal. New Delhibased Orange Renewable was founded by Singapore resident Arvind Tiku.
“Greenko’s Orange deal is going through,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity. Another person aware of the development, who also didn’t want to be named, confirmed the potential deal, which has been on and off the table.
On September 11, Mint reported on investment bank Rothschild Inc. resuming the process of scouting for a buyer for Orange. The deal is now close to fruition at a discount of around $75 million, with Greenko slated to make an equity payout of around $300 million.
There has been growing overseas interest in India’s emerging green economy with the country’s plan to meet 40% of its electricity needs from non-fossil fuels by 2030. With around $42 billion invested so far, India’s renewable energy capacity has doubled to 72 gigawatts (GW). This is a time when India is pursuing its aim of adding 175GW of green energy by 2022.
Once the Orange transaction is completed, Greenko’s total renewable energy operational capacity will increase by around 1GW to 4.2GW, the second largest in India after ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd.
Greenko Group’s founder, president and joint MD Mahesh Kolli declined to comment. Arvind Tiku didn’t immediately respond to queries emailed on early Sunday morning.
An external spokesperson for Rothschild, in an e-mailed response, said the investment bank “does not comment on market speculations”.
GIC Holdings Pvt. Ltd and ADIA will invest a combined $395 million in Greenko Energy Holdings in one of the largest funding rounds by an Indian clean energy producer, Greenko said in June.