Sovereign Wealth GIC Seeks to Help Genus Roll Out Smart Meters in India
Posted on 07/04/2023
Asian sovereign wealth funds are supporting “Made in India” deals. Gem View Investment Pte Ltd is a sovereign wealth enterprise of Singapore’s GIC Private Limited. GIC and Jaipur-based Genus Power & Infrastructures Ltd formed a platform for Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (“AMISP”) concessions in India. GIC will own a 74% stake in the smart meter platform while Genus will hold a 26% stake in the Platform. The partners have committed to an initial pipeline with a capital outlay of roughly US$ 2,000,000,000. Genus would be the exclusive supplier to the platform for smart meters and associated services. The other part of the deal is that GIC via Chiswick Investment Pte Ltd will invest up to INR 519,00,00,000 by way of a preferential allotment of warrants which shall constitute (if and when GIC elects to exercise such warrants) 15% of the issued and paid-up share capital of Genus on a fully diluted/as converted basis. The transactions are subject to the approval of Genus shareholders and fulfilment of customary closing conditions to the satisfaction of the GIC affiliates.
Genus is a manufacturer of “smart meters” and has an integrated manufacturing facility that has supported its widespread installation of meters across India. The CEO of Genus Power is Rajendra (Raj) Kumar Agarwal. Genus Power’s clients include NTPC, Tata Power, CESC, Reliance, Torrent Power, NHPC, Power Grid Corporation, and many of the state electricity boards in India.
India Smart Metering
The Government of India is implementing the National Smart Metering Project, under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), with a plan to install 250,000,000 meters by 2025 with an estimated investment of US$ 30,000,000,000. Indian utilities seek to boost their financial returns by using smart metering. AMISP concessions are awarded by various state utilities under RDSS with a concession life of up to 10 years and concessionaires receive a monthly service charge during this period for installing and maintaining meters and the associated infrastructure.
Advisors
Genus was advised on these transactions by Impact Infracap and Beyond Advisory acting as its Transaction Advisors, while Talwar Thakore & Associates (“TT&A”) acted as the legal advisor on the transactions.
Resolüt Partners acted as legal advisors to GIC.
