CPPIB, Actis, Cube in race for Brookfield’s India road portfolio

Actis, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Cube High­ways, a road operator backed by I Squared Capital, are in the final sta­ges of negotiations to buy Peak Infrastructure, a portfolio of operating road assets owned by Canadian investor, Brookfield. The portfolio, which consists of five road assets, is estimated to have an enterprise value of $1.2 billion-$1.5 billion. The five roads on sale comprise a 99.5 km section of the Mumbai-Nashik Expressway, a 183.6 km section of NH-5 and a 188.8 km section of NH-18 in Andhra Pradesh; the 32.3 km Gorakhpur bypass in Uttar Pradesh; and a 10.6 km four-lane bridge across river Kosi in Bihar. CPPIB is bidding for the portfolio through IndInfravit, a Canadian pension fund-backed InvIT.