GMR to sell 49% stake in airport biz

Hyderabad: GMR Infrastructure on Thursday said it will sell 49 per cent stake instead of 44.44 per cent in its airport business to Tata Group subsidiary TRIL Urban Transport, as the group continues with efforts to trim its debt. However, the value of the deal has not be disclosed.

The diversified group has decided to increase the quantum of stake sale nearly 10 months after announcing the deal, which also received green signal from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October last year.

In a filing to the stock exchanges, GMR Infrastructure said it has decided to "increase the transaction size by agreeing to divest 49 per cent in GMR Airports Limited (vs previously agreed 44.44 per cent) to TRIL Urban Transport Private Limited (part of TATA Group), an affiliate of GIC and SSG Capital Management in one or more tranches".

The deal would be subject to regulatory approvals. An amended and restated Shares Subscription and Purchase Agreement and Shareholders Agreement has been executed for the revised deal, according to the filing.

GMR Group operates airports in New Delhi and Hyderabad. It also has stakes in Mactan-Cebu airport in the Philippines and Crete aerodrome in Greece. The transaction involves offloading stake in GMR Airports to TRIL Urban Transport Pvt Ltd, Valkyrie Investment and Solis Capital.

Valkyrie is an affiliate of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, while Solis is an investment vehicle of the SSG Group. In October, the CCI cleared the proposed transaction subject to certain modifications.

According to the announcement made in March last year, the deal valued GMR Airports at over Rs 17,700 crore.

Post-deal, GMR Infrastructure and subsidiaries would hold around 54 per cent stake in the airport arm, the consortium of new investors would own close to 45 per cent and the remaining would be with an employee's welfare trust, as per the announcement.