GMR is planning to give out 30% stake in its airport business to go debt free in next 6 years

In a bid to cut debt and consolidate its position, GMR is running a fund-raising process in its airport operations.

The GMR Group had net debt of Rs 40,500 crore at the end of September.

In this regard, Fairfax Financial Holdings and Singapore's Changi Airports International are in talks with the GMR Group to pick up a 30% stake and invest around Rs 3,200 crore.

Also, KKR & Co and Apollo Global Management are in the fray to make a deal, which will be around Rs 10,000 crore.

GMR is looking to dilute around 49% equity in airports business. The group holds a 54% stake in Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and 63% in GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) besides 40% in the $670 million Mactan-Cebu International Airport modernisation project in the Philippines.

"We are aiming at reducing our debt and consolidating our position. As an infrastructure group, we keep exploring various options. But we are not engaged in any definitive conversations with any of the investors at this point in time," GMR Group CFO Madhu Terdal told ET.

Terdal added that most of the GMR’s projects were generating cash and they expected to become debt-free in the next six years.

Meanwhile, GVK is also looking for investors to partner it in the airports business and has mandated Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch toward this end.

(Image: Indiatimes)