IL&FS to sell China road asset to PingAn Insurance

The IL&FS Group has received legal approval for the sale of its Chinese road asset, Chongqing Yuhe Expressway Company Limited (CYEC), to the China Merchants & PingAn Infrastructure Phase 1 Equity Investment Fund (Tianjin), a group company of PingAn Insurance Company of China. The sale of the Chinese road asset will allow IL&FS to settle about Rs 26 billion of its debt at the group level. The IL&FS Group holds a 49 per cent stake in CYEC through its step-down Singapore-based subsidiary ITNL International Pte Limited (IIPL). The balance 51 per cent stake in CYEC is held by the Chongqing Expressway Group. PingAn has bid for 100 per cent stake at an aggregate equity valuation of $281 million. This values IIPL’s 49 per cent stake at about $138 million (Rs 10.2 billion). PingAn will also take over the Rs 16 billion debt in CYEC (as of October 2018). IIPL will now sign definitive agreements and file an application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to complete the transaction.