Wayne Burt Capital, a deep value fund backed by U.S. and European PE funds, has set aside a seed capital of $100-150 million to acquire petrochemicals and power plants.
Company officials have short-listed two petrochemical firms in southern and western parts of the country, and a 160-MW coal-based power plant in Tamil Nadu.
Wayne Burt Group Chairman T. G. S. Mahesh said: “We are already in advanced stages of negotiation for acquiring the power plant that has been classified as non-performing asset by the bankers. We are negotiating with the Tamil Nadu government officials and the bankers to conclude the deal. The earlier promoter had already entered into a power purchase agreement with the State Government in 2012. All the approvals are in place. Details will be announced soon.”
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Noting that the group had invested over $1 billion in oil as well as gas, petrochemicals and aerospace manufacturing, he said the group was looking for a critical mass to attain Rs.2,000 crore turnover in the petrochemical sector by 2018.
The recently-acquired Cetex Petrochemicals would also register Rs.1,000 crore turnover by 2018, and the group was scouting for one or two firms to fill the gap.
“It will cost roughly Rs.700 crore to set up a new power plant. We are planning to buy it at a lower price. Out of the planned investment of Rs.600-900 crore, a majority of it will be invested in the first buy,” he said.
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