GMR Group secures Rs 6,300-crore investment from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

GMR Group on October 23 said it has executed an agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for Rs 6,300-crore investment in the structured debt instruments of GMR Infra Enterprises Private Limited.

Upon completion, GMR Group said it will use the proceeds of the transaction to refinance all external debt of GMR Enterprise Private Ltd (GEPL), the promoter of GMR Airports Ltd (GAL).

Also, upon the completion, the GMR promoter group’s pledge on its shareholding in GAL will reduce significantly, it said.

The group operates three airports in India-Delhi, Hyderabad and Goa -- and two airports in the Philippines and Indonesia.

GEPL is a promoter group entity controlled by G M Rao. GMR Group Corporate Chairman Kiran Grandhi said that in recent years, it has successfully reduced a significant quantum of corporate debt.

At 3:05 pm on October 23, GMR Airports shares on BSE were trading 2.7 percent higher at Rs 82.56 apiece.

Through this exercise, GEPL will be able to consolidate multiple lenders into a single source of capital.

GMR Enterprises' total debt had increased nearly 4 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,477 crore, according to its latest annual report.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has regularly invested in the airport infrastructure space in India. Back in 2019, GVK Airports had raised around Rs 7,600 crore from ADIA, PSP Investments, and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.

ADIA, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has also started operations at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, with a fund of $4-5 billion fund to invest in India.

The UAE is the largest Arab investor in India, with investments of around $3 billion in fiscal year 2023-24. The UAE was the sixth-largest FDI source for 2023-24 and the seventh-largest overall since 2000.

Established in 1976, ADIA is a globally-diversified investment institution that prudently invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi through a strategy focused on long-term value creation.

Over 70 per cent of all global capability centre (GCC) investments come from the UAE. The new India-UAE Bilateral Investment Treaty, which entered into force on August 31, 2024, will further strengthen two-way investment flows.