Actis has acquired 194 MW of operating solar power assets from Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital (SP Infra) through Sprng Energy, its renewable energy platform in India.

Actis is an investor in growth markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America in private equity, energy, infrastructure, and real estate space.

All the customary regulatory approvals are complete, and the transaction concluded last week.

“We are excited to add these assets to Sprng Energy. Addition of these assets has increased our operating capacity to 450 MW, and our focus now is to integrate these assets smoothly with our overall portfolio” said Gaurav Sood, CEO of Sprng Energy.

The 194 MW of solar projects have been operational for more than a year. Out of the 194 MW, projects totaling 144 MW are located in Telangana and a 50 MW project in Rajasthan.

To facilitate the transaction, Credit Suisse worked as the financial advisor while Khaitan & Co was the legal advisor to SP Infra. Standard Chartered Bank was the financial advisor, and Trilegal acted as the legal advisors to Actis.

“The acquisition of this portfolio is in line with Actis’ commitment of building 2GW+ of renewable power projects in India. With this acquisition, the total operating and under construction capacity of Sprng Energy, our 100 percent owned renewable platform, will increase to 1,650 MW and we continue to look for opportunities to grow this portfolio further through both M&A and new bids” said Sanjiv Aggarwal, Partner Energy Asia at Actis.

According to Mercom India Solar Project Tracker, Shapoorji Pallonji has a total of 472 MW large-scale solar projects in-operation and 920 MW that are under various stages of development.

“A year ago, we decided to divest a part of our operating portfolio in order to redeploy capital for the development of new solar projects. We continue to see large opportunities for the growth of the renewable sector in our country, and the sale to a discerning infrastructure investor highlights our commitment towards the development and operation of high-quality renewable energy projects in India,” said Mukundan Srinivasan, MD and CEO of SP Infra, adding that Actis has a strong track record of managing and growing utility‐scale infrastructure businesses globally.

Last year in May, Mercom had reported that Sprng Energy had won 250 MW of solar projects at a low bidding price of ₹2.72 (~$0.0403) in the auction conducted by the National Thermal Corporation of India (NTPC) for 750 MW of solar projects in Ananthapuramu solar park.

In July 2018, Sprng Energy won 200 MW by quoting a tariff of ₹2.70 (~$0.039)/kWh to develop 250 MW in the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) 750 MW auction of grid-connected solar PV capacity to be developed at the Kadapa Solar Park in the state of Andhra Pradesh.