Cube Highways InvIT Lists In India, Raises $630 Million From Canada's BCI, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala

Cube Highways Trust (CHT) has raised $630 million from a clutch of investors including British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and Abu Dhabi's sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala). Cube Highways Fund Advisors Private Limited, the Investment Manager to InvIT, in a statement announced the listing of its fully subscribed privately placed ordinary units for Rs 5,225.8 crore (approximately $630 million).

Accordingly, the Canadian pension investment manager BCI and Mubadala have become the new anchor investors in Cube Highways Trust (CHT), an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) in India. The InvIT has a diversified portfolio of 18 toll and annuity road assets with an aggregate length of 1,423.60 kilometres. BCI, Mubadala and domestic institutional investors have subscribed to the ordinary units, it added.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are instruments on the pattern of mutual funds, designed to pool money from investors and invest in assets that will provide cash flows over a period of time. According to the statement, the first tranche of assets held by the InvIT will have 17 NHAI toll road assets and one NHAI annuity road asset.

These road assets are located across 11 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. In addition, pursuant to a right of first offer, CHT will also have an opportunity to access a pipeline of seven highway assets. The trust in Cube by such marquee investors affirms its capability and personnel and the Board and Cube’s team are eager to work with all stakeholders to continue generating value and worth for all, said U K Sinha, an independent director at Cube Highways Funds Advisors Private Limited. According to the statement, the InvIT has also signed a facility agreement with the State Bank of India for an amount of Rs 100 billion ($1.2 billion) to be used for refinancing of the existing debt within the initial portfolio.

The Cube Group is a 100 per cent institutionally-owned platform backed by a diversified investor base, including I Squared Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and Japan Highways International BV.  It is engaged in implementing the public-private partnership (PPP) model in the country's highways sector to operate and manage highway projects in association with the central and state governments.