ReNew Power nears ₹1,500 cr deal with Ayana Renewable

New Delhi: ReNew Power is close to inking an agreement to sell its wind farms in Karnataka to UK government-backed Ayana Renewable for ₹1,500 crore, according to people aware of the matter.

The wind farms being sold are housed in a single entity in which Ayana is likely to acquire 100% shareholding, according to these people.

“The negotiations are in final stages and would result in the transfer of around 300 megawatts (MW)of wind power generation facilities for which supply agreements with state electricity boards are in place,” a person in the know said.

Sale of the wind farms could help ReNew Power reduce debt and generate cash to meet upcoming financial obligations such as redemption of bonds issued to overseas investors, according to sources. “The cost of refinancing upcoming debt obligations could be quite high. It makes sense to pay off creditors,” an executive aware of the company’s thinking said.

Another person not connected to ongoing discussions said the company was exploring sale of parts of its portfolio as a strategy to ‘monetise’ assets that are mature and have already generated returns for shareholders and re-invest the proceeds into new projects.

A ReNew spokesperson declined to comment. Ayana did not respond to queries until press time.

ReNew’s wind farms in Karnataka are located in four districts—Raichur, Bijapur, Belgaum and Bellary. Not all its wind power generation facilities in the state are part of the current deal and it may continue to retain almost 250-300 MW of wind farms post the deal with Ayana, as per a source.

The company had acquired a cluster of wind farms in the southern state as part of its Rs 10,000 crore acquisition of Ostro Energy two years ago.

Ayana Renewable is owned by UK government’s development finance arm, CDC Group. India’s national investment and infrastructure fund (NIIF) and Eversource Capital are also investors in Ayana.

ReNew Power has wind and solar power generation capacities of 8.65 gigawatts, making it arguably the largest renewable energy company in India.

The company was founded by former investment banker and Suzlon executive Sumant Sinha nine years ago. It has raised $5.5 billion in equity and debt funding since inception. It boasts marquee investors such as Goldman Sachs, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Global Environment Fund and Japan’s JERA.

The company put on hold a planned initial public offering (IPO) of shares last year over fears that public market investors would not match the valuation expectations of its exiting shareholders.

Goldman Sachs, ADIA and Global Environment Fund were among shareholders that were planning to partially exit during the IPO as per details in a draft offer document filed by the company with market regulator Securities and exchange board of India.