In its maiden investment in the transport sector in Asia, global buyout major KKR on Monday announced the acquisition of seven highway assets from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for an undisclosed sum.
Definitive agreements have been signed under which KKR will acquire GIP's entire interest in Highway Concessions One (HC1) and seven highway assets with a total length of 487 kilometres, as per a statement.
The HC1 platform manages GIP's road portfolio which spans across seven states -- Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
"Roads are one of the largest and most crucial infrastructure assets in India, where the world's second-largest road network is located.
"Rapidly increasing passenger and commercial vehicle traffic has driven the strong demand to expand the country's road network even further and the reciprocal need for investment in the sector," KKR's Managing Director and head of India infrastructure Hardik Shah said.
He called the transportation sector as a key area to its infrastructure strategy in India.
The investment will be done from the KKR Asia Pacific Infrastructure Fund, the statement said, adding that this is KKR's third investment in India from the fund and the firm's first investment in Asia's transport sector.
Recent infrastructure investments in India include India Grid Trust (IndiGrid), a leading infrastructure investment trust, and Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy company, it said.
