Serentica, BlackRock, Sembcorp lead the race to buy Statkraft India
New Delhi: KKR-backed
Serentica Renewables
, BlackRock and Sembcorp are leading the race to acquire Statkraft's Indian arm that the Norwegian state-owned company put on the block, according to people aware of the matter.
The three players submitted non-binding offers in the range of $1.2-$1.5 billion each in the last week of April, according to those in the know. They have bid for the entire company, giving them an edge in the bidding process. Statkraft has offered the option to potential acquirers to bid for parts of its India business.
Statkraft is selling a 2-gigawatt portfolio of operational and under-construction renewable energy generating plants located across multiple Indian states that generate power from sources such as wind, hydro and solar.
To provide options to potential suitors, the India unit is being sold in four packages, said the people cited above. The first package entails wind and solar power assets in Rajasthan with 1.5 GW capacity. The second package comprises two operational hydro power plants at Malana and Allain Duhangan in Himachal Pradesh with both being 49:51 joint ventures with India's LNJ Bhilwara group. The third and fourth packages are single hydropower assets at Tidong in Himachal Pradesh and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, respectively.
All three offers have been screened by Statkraft's global board, the sources said. The bidders will now be given access to a due diligence report over the next week being prepared by a law firm. After that they can conduct their own assessment and then make a final binding offer.
Others such as JSW Neo Energy, Torrent and Jindal Power have also submitted offers, according to the sources cited earlier. But their offers are either lower or they have only bid for parts of the company, they said.
Statkraft, Europe's largest renewable power company, announced its intention on October 23, 2024 to exit the Indian business. The company said it was prioritising investments in Norway, Europe and South America, in a statement from its global CEO Birgitte Ringstad Vardtal. It forayed into India in 2001.
Queries to Serentica Renewables, BlackRock, Sembcorp, Torrent and Jindal Power remained unanswered. JSW Neo Energy declined to comment.
ET had first reported on 11 April that fifteen companies had signed non-disclosure agreements to participate in the bidding process for the Norwegian company's Indian operations. The likes of
Tata Power
,
Adani Green Energy
, ReNew Power, Waree Energies, Greenko, Energielis, Welspun and Gentari were amongst them. Sources said some of them opted out of the bidding process while others may not have bid aggressively.
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