In what could probably be the biggest sale of road projects in the country, troubled infrastructure developer and financier, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has decided to monetise 10,092 km of road projects as it sought expression of interest from potential investors.

The sale of the assets by the new board of IL&FS is a part of plan for a resolution of the cash-strapped firm.

 The IL&FS board, acting on behalf of its relevant subsidiaries including ITNL (IL&FS Transport Network Ltd.) has today initiated the process of exploring the divestment of the IL&FS Group s equity stakes in road assets,  the company said in a statement. The projects on the block are seven operating annuity-based road projects in various parts of the country totalling 1,774 km, eight operating toll-based road projects of 6,572 km, four under-construction road projects of 1,736 km upon completion, and three other assets and businesses, which are EPC and O&M businesses of IL&FS Transportation Networks, and a sports complex in Thiruvananthapuram.

 The proposed sale of stakes held by IL&FS Group in the assets may be carried out as a basket / individually or as an undertaking comprising all offered assets and businesses,  IL&FS said.

Resolution plan process

The statement said the board of IL&FS and ITNL are cognisant that these steps are required to advance the process for putting together a resolution plan for the group. It added that any binding transaction for the sale of assets, as well as the resulting resolution plans, will be subject to requisite approvals (including the NCLT or where necessary, the High Courts) before transactions are implemented.

The IL&FS board had appointed Arpwood Capital and JM Financial as financial and transaction advisers, along with Alvarez & Marsal as Resolution Consultants.