JSW signs exclusive deal to acquire Mytrah
NEW DELHI: JSW Group has entered into an exclusive agreement to buy green energy producer Mytrah Energy India Pvt. Ltd in a deal worth about $2 billion in enterprise value, two people aware of the development said. Barclays Bank is managing the sale of Mytrah, which has one of the largest wind databases in the country and an operational portfolio of 2.3 gigawatts (GW). This includes 1.7GW of wind and around 535MW of solar power. It also has 700MW of projects under development.
Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Group has been active in India’s green energy deal space and participated in the sale process of private equity firm Actis Llp’s renewable energy platform in India Sprng Energy, which Shell Plc agreed to acquire for an enterprise value of $1.55 billion last month. JSW Group and other investors are actively scouting for such assets as India transitions to clean energy to mitigate the effects of climate change, which many experts said is behind the scorching heatwave across India and Pakistan. India has set an ambitious target to achieve a renewable energy capacity of 500GW by 2030, triple the current installed capacity of 156.6GW.
JSW Future Energy Ltd, a unit of JSW Energy Ltd, has ambitious plans to take advantage of India’s clean energy transition. It recently signed a pact with Fortescue Future Industries Pty Ltd on green hydrogen production in the country. Of the 20GW capacity the company plans to reach by 2030, renewable energy is to contribute 85%. Around 2.25GW of renewable energy projects are currently under construction, with 1.26GW of wind power capacity expected to be commissioned within the next year. The group has set an ambitious target for a 50% reduction in its carbon footprint by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Mint had last month reported that Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries Ltd, Enfinity Global Inc. and JSW Group were shortlisted to acquire Mytrah.
The renewed interest in the clean energy producer follows an Andhra Pradesh high court ruling favouring renewable energy developers after the state decided to reopen renewable energy contracts inked under the previous N. Chandrababu Naidu government.
Vikram Kailas, co-founder and managing director of Mytrah Energy, declined to comment. Spokespeople for Barclays Bank India and JSW Group also declined to comment. A spokesperson for Enfinity Global, in an emailed response, said, “We generally do not communicate or comment on any deal/potential deal unless it is closed.” Queries emailed to a Sembcorp spokesperson on 8 May remained unanswered till press time.
The latest Mytrah deal comes after an earlier transaction with private equity firm KKR fell through. In 2010, Mytrah got listed on the alternative investment market of the London Stock Exchange after raising $80 million from institutional investors. It was delisted from the exchange in May 2018. At one point, it was also working on a domestic listing.