Desai Diwanji Khaitan and ELP advise Ashok Piramal SNC-Lavalin IDFC fund in JV for roads

Ashok Piramal Group, India Infrastructure Fund (a fund managed by IDFC Project Equity) and Canada’s SNC-Lavalin have partnered to develop, own, construct and operate public-private partnership (PPP) road projects in India through a joint venture..Ashok Piramal Group (APG) has invested Rs. 487.40 crore ($97 million) to acquire 51 percent stake in Piramal Roads Infra, the joint venture company. The total deal value is Rs. 1250 – Rs. 1500 crore ($250-$300 million). India Infrastructure Fund (IIF) will hold 39 percent while SNC-Lavalin will own the balance 10 percent..Desai & Diwanji advised Ashok Piramal Group with a team led by Partner Apurva Diwanji along with Associate Partner Siddharth Mody, Senior Associate Sonal Rangnekar and Associate Kate Bharucha..The Mumbai office of Khaitan & Co. advised IIF with a team led by Partner Vaishali Sharma along with Principal Associate Niren Patel..Economic Laws Practice advised SNC-Lavalin on this transaction. The ELP team was led by Partner Sujjain Talwar along with Associate Partners Pranay Bhatia and Jeet Sengupta and Associate Namrata Mehta..According to VCCircle, the joint venture company formed by APG is part of the group’s initiative to pursue opportunities in the infrastructure sector. The idea is to build a portfolio of road projects in excess of $1 billion over the next 3-4 years..IIF is a private sector infrastructure equity financer with an existing portfolio of seven road assets, along with its other investments in the energy, ports and urban infrastructure sectors. SNC-Lavalin is among the world’s largest engineering and construction groups and has been active in the infrastructure sector in India for more than 50 years.