US private equity firm KKR & Co and co-investors have agreed to provide ₹1,000 crore ($164.2 million) in long-term financing to GMR Holdings Pvt Ltd, the holding company for GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

Without disclosing the terms of the transaction, GMR Holdings said the deal is subject to customary transaction documentation.

GMR Group has interests in the airport, energy, highway and urban infrastructure sectors. GMR Holdings will infuse funds into GMR Infra in the form of equity capital, which will help the company further strengthen its balance sheet, support the funding requirement for projects and meet financing obligations.

“The infusion of additional equity from promoters of GMR Infra is a testimony to the promoters’ confidence in the long-term value of the group’s business,” said Grandhi Kiran Kumar, Group Director, GMR Holdings.

“The rights issue, after successful conclusion, will improve the net worth of GMR Infra and bring down the net debt-to-equity ratio to around 2.85 against 3.50 prevailing as of March 2014.”

In addition, it will reduce the corporate debt of GMR Infra, said Kumar.

“This partnership with KKR helps GMR strengthen its foundation for the next phase of growth.”

Added BV Krishnan, Managing Director, KKR Capital Markets: “We are delighted to have entered into this partnership with GMR, which has been at the forefront of high-quality infrastructure development in India.

“GMR represents a significant opportunity for KKR to partner with committed infrastructure groups which have developed world-class, highly relevant assets to build India.”

Financing solutions In India, KKR provides structured financing solutions through multiple capital pools, including a non-banking finance company, alternative investment funds and special situations capital pools.

The firm looks to provide flexible, long-term capital which can help companies achieve their objectives of balance sheet consolidation, deleveraging and long-term growth.

KKR has executed more than $2 billion of structured financing to 21 business groups in India through its credit and capital markets business over the past five years.

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