Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), a finance company based in India that provides finance and advisory services for infrastructure projects as well as asset management and investment banking, has agreed to acquire stakes in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) Bangalore Elevated Tollway Ltd (BETL) in Bangalore, India.

IDFC has acquired the shares through its private equity arm IDFC Alternatives, which manages India Infrastructure Fund II. The stakes were hold by NCC Infrastructure Holdings and Soma Enterprise. The transaction would reach the enterprise value of approximately Rs 750 crore (US$110 million), according to the local press.

NCC Infrastructure Holdings and Soma Enterprise hold a 38% stake each in the highway project which became operational in April 2010 with an investment of Rs 765 crore (US$112 million). Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) holds the rest of the project shares.

BETL is a special purpose vehicle which manages the 9 Km long and 4 lane elevated divided carriageway road between Silk Board junction and Electronic City junction on the National Highway 7 (NH-7) in Bangalore.

The project was developed on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

EY (Ernst & Young) is acting as the M&A advisor on this transaction for the selling part.

Aditya Aggarwal, partner at IDFC Alternatives, said:

“Buying control in operational cash generating core assets remains our preferred investment thesis. We look forward to continuing the calibrated traction on our roads platform and having BETL as the latest in a series of disciplined acquisitions over the past couple of years.”

In January, we also reported India Infrastructure Fund II acquired Welspun Enterprises Ltd's 37% stake in the 142.6km Dewas-Bhopal Corridor Pvt. Ltd (DBCL) for INR 6,620 million (around US$107.8 million).