NDBIB advises Sunshine Energy on hydropower asset sale
View(s):NDB Investment Bank (NDBIB) continues to lead and facilitate strategic Mergers and Acquisition (M and A) transactions in Sri Lanka this year as well with the recently concluded divestiture of the hydropower assets of Sunshine Energy (Pvt) Ltd (SEL) to Aitken Spence PLC.
NDBIB acted as the exclusive sell side advisor to the divesting shareholders of Waltrim Energy Ltd (WEL) which included Sunshine Energy, the renewable energy arm of Sunshine Holdings PLC and its co-investors, NDBIB said in a media release.
Darshan Perera, CEO of NDBIB, said, “Our focus when it comes to M and A is to make sure our clients receive best-in-class financial advisory services to achieve their strategic goals. This facilitates our clients to grow, reorient themselves and consolidate their business operations to better create shareholder value.”
WEL consists of three mini hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of 6.6 MW and was transacted at an enterprise value of Rs. 1.5 billion. NDBIB executed the transaction via a multi-staged process carefully designed to establish the objectives and sensitivities of divesting shareholders and ensure focused efforts in investor screening. NDBIB carried out pre-transaction preparation including business due diligence, financial forecasting and valuations, and was able to garner healthy interest from both local and foreign investors covering both strategic and financial sponsors.
NDBIB’s Chief Corporate Advisory Officer, Nilendra Weerasinghe, commenting on the transaction, said: “We see significant levels of activity in the M and A space with the low interest rate environment boosting asset valuations. Renewable energy and agriculture have emerged as top two areas attracting M and A interest and we hope to close many more transactions soon.”
NDBIB coordinated and assisted SEL in facilitating the legal, financial and tax due diligence carried out by Aitken Spence and other shortlisted investors despite interruptions from COVID-19 related lockdowns that prevailed during the execution of the transaction. NDBIB also played the lead role in negotiations with Aitken Spence and other shortlisted investors to arrive at the most favourable terms for SEL in order to successfully close the transaction.