KKR buys 9 per cent stake in Avantha Power

• 13 years ago (2010-10-07)
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Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR.N) has bought a 9 percent stake in India's Avantha Power & Infrastructure Ltd for 2.17 billion rupees ($49 million) ahead of the utility's IPO.

Avantha Power, part of billionaire Gautam Thapar-led Avantha Group, has issued 64 million shares at 34 rupees each to KKR, according to a banker familiar with the transaction.

Avantha Power is looking to raise as much as $280 million through an initial public offering, and the company has filed papers with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Avantha has an existing thermal capacity of 191 MW and is in the process of implementing generating capacity of 2400 MW and has 1320 MW of generating capacity in the planning stage. Once all the projects under implementation and development have achieved commercial operation, the company is expected to have a total installed capacity of 3911 MW.

Avantha is currently securing funding for two thermal power plants of 600 MW each in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, entailing a capital expenditure of Rs 5782 crore. These two power plants are predicted to be commissioned in 2013.

Indian power generation companies have been attracting significant investor interest in the past few months as companies look to tap a market that has shortage of electricity supply. The high economic growth in the country requires abundant power supply to run factories and investors are betting on this demand to grow significantly in the next few years.