Acquisition

5 Oct 2006 07:01

Trinity Capital PLC05 October 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Trinity Capital PLC ("Trinity") Acquires strategic stake in ITNL Trinity is pleased to announce that it has acquired a 2.5% shareholding for £4.8million in IL&FS Transportation & Networks Limited ("ITNL") which is 90% ownedby Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Services Limited, ("IL&FS") one of India'sleading financial institutions. On the 4 August 2006, Trikona Capital ("Trikona"), the asset manager forTrinity, announced a $100 million partnership with IL&FS for investments in realestate and infrastructure. Today's announcement represents the first allocationof this investment. ITNL is a vehicle promoted by IL&FS to spearhead its initiative in thetransportation sector and is the premier institution in India for transportationinfrastructure development. ITNL has existing relationships with several StateGovernments and the Central Government in India and has sectoral know-how inacquiring and implementing transport sector projects. ITNL currently has aportfolio of 10 road sub-sector projects already in development and a pipelineof further such projects which are in the planning phase. One of the projects inthe current portfolio is the Noida Toll Road; ITNL is the promoter for thisproject and in addition owns 22.6% of Noida Toll Bridge Co.Ltd, a publiclylisted company on AIM. This is an exciting investment for Trikona for two principal reasons. First, theinvestment will allow participation in ITNL's future growth and it is believedthis investment will meet the investment criteria as set out at the time of theIPO. Second, the partnership with IL&FS will also benefit from the opportunitiesto invest in allied projects including real estate development along thetransport corridors being developed by ITNL. Availability of infrastructure is a prerequisite for population migration anddevelopment. Rights to develop around highways usually accrue to the developerof the infrastructure projects in the vicinity. The process of urbanisation inIndia is happening at a rapid pace, largely driven by the establishment of coreessential services such as the ITNL infrastructure projects. ITNL and Trikona aim to harness the opportunities arising from the need forinfrastructure investment and development. ITNL's expertise in managing andoperating infrastructure projects and Trikona's expertise in development andfinancing make this a natural partnership. Aashish Kalra, Managing Director, Trikona Capital, said, "This is an importantstrategic acquisition which gives access to one of the largest drivers oftransport infrastructure and allied investments in India. Given thatinfrastructure is the biggest bottleneck to urbanization in India, this is aunique opportunity to create the next generation of developments in India. ITNLis working on a number of exciting projects and we expect to benefit fromparticipation in the Company and from the spin-off opportunities it will createto invest in allied activities alongside the infrastructure projects." About IL&FS IL&FS is India's leading developer of infrastructure projects. Having developedIndia's first toll road in 1993, the Group has since been responsible forsuccessfully developing more than 1,400kms of road projects and has been aninfluential player in the commercialisation of infrastructure projects in India.IL&FS has established itself as India's leading infrastructure development andfinance company. It has catalysed over $8 billion for infrastructure projectsand currently has an order book in excess of $10 billion. ENDS Enquiries: Trikona Capital Aashish Kalra +91 11 2620 7240 Cardew Group Tim Robertson +44 20 7930 0777 Sofia Rehman Catherine Maitland (London) Gutenberg Harjiv Singh (New York) +1 212 209 3863 Pranav Kumar (Delhi) +91-98100-77898 Numis Iain McDonald +44 20 7776 1567 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange