Hiranandani eyes $300m from stake sale in H-Energy

The Hiranandani Group is looking to raise as much as $300 million (₹2,180 crore) by diluting a significant minority stake in its energy unit H-Energy, valuing the company at about $1 billion.The Mumbai-based real estate developer is approaching private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and pension money managers for a potential sale of at least 33% in H-Energy, people aware of the plans said.UBS has been hired to find a partner. The formal share-sale process is expected to start by mid-June. The funds raised will be used to pay debt and finance ongoing projects, one person said.H-Energy is developing liquefied natural gas regasification terminals and cross-country pipelines on India’s west and east coasts. The company also offers natural gas solutions including LNG sourcing, regasification facilities and downstream deliveries, according to its website.83023762“We had received interests to partner with H-Energy from too many global players for our team to be able to manage. UBS is involved to manage these conversations,” a company spokesperson said. “We remain actively engaged with many of them.”Set up in 2009, H-Energy is led by Darshan Hiranandani, the son of property tycoon Niranjan Hiranandani. The company is commissioning India’s first floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU)-based LNG terminal project at Jaigarh Port in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. The Jaigarh LNG terminal will connect to the national gas grid at Dabhol through a 57 km tie-in pipeline.The construction of the project is complete, including linking of the pipeline into the GAIL grid, and the FSRU is in place, the spokesperson said.Other projects include setting up a land-based LNG terminal at Kukrahati in West Bengal, which is scheduled to be commissioned by 2023; and an FSU based LNG regasification project in Andhra Pradesh, which will serve as a major natural gas supply source for the state and neighbouring states.H-Energy signed an agreement last month with the Kolkata Port Trust to build a jetty based terminal at east Midnapur for storage and regasification of LNG with a maximum capacity of 5 MMTPA, which will be commissioned by July 2024.Under its natural gas pipeline division, H-Energy is executing the 635 km Jaigarh-Mangalore project on the west coast.The company has borrowed ₹5,200 crore and is said to have outstanding debt of about ₹3,900 crore.HE Mideast Ltd. (H-Energy Mideast DMCC), an LNG trading company that was until recently based in Dubai, is being liquidated, Bloomberg reported last month.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3bVzbJ6