The Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) group on Wednesday said it has initiated a process to sell its stake in the renewable energy business.
It owns wind power plants with a capacity of 873.5 mega watts (MW). Besides, it has units that are under construction with a proposed capacity of 104 MW.
The IL&FS group also has under-construction solar power projects with capacity of 300 MW.
This latest move comes after the infrastructure financier had announced plans to divest its stake in IL&FS Securities Services and ISSL Settlement & Transaction Services.
According to the group, it has received strong interest from over dozen entities for these two businesses. The interest comes from banks, private equity funds and other financial services firms.
“The board today (Wednesday) initiated a process of exploring sale of controlling stakes held by the IL&FS group in renewable energy assets,' the company said in a statement.
The group is also exploring the option to sell stake in asset management services for operating wind power generating plants as well as the business division conducting project development and execution of wind power plants.
It is planning to divest stake in businesses relating to project development and implementation of solar power plants and projects under development of around 300 MW capacity with corporate customers.
“The proposed sale of stakes held by the IL&FS group in these assets may be carried out as a basket/individually or a combination of both,' the group added.
The board will soon be issuing expressions of interest (EoIs) for these stake sales. It has appointed Arpwood Capital and JM Financial as financial and transaction advisors, along with Alvarez & Marsal as resolution consultants.
Last month, the Uday Kotak-led board of IL&FS, had submitted a progress and way forward report to the corporate affairs ministry and the National Company Law Tribunal. The new board expects to complete the resolution process, in stages over the next two-three quarters.
Survival strategy
The board pegged total debt of the group at Rs 94,215.6 crore and the number of subsidiaries at 348 as of October 8. The new board also said it was facing significant challenges arising from the lack of reliable information and gaps in data in arriving at resolution plan.
The new board is looking at various resolution options that include significant capital infusion in its business either individually or in a combination, divestments, and debt restructurings at the group level. It may also cover an asset level resolution.
UP FOR SALE
- Wind power plants with capacity of 873.5mw. Plants are operational
- Another 104mw wind power plants that are under construction
- IL&FS to also sell solar units with capacity of 300mw
- IL&FS has Rs 92,000-crore debt