Ending months of negotiations, KKR has agreed to buy 5 solar assets of 317 MW from the cash strapped Shapoorji Pallonji Group for $200 million, said people in the know.

The divestment will help the group in its deleveraging exercise. KKR's infra fund had acquired Sterlite's power InvIT before.

KKR began to focus on Asia’s infrastructure sector with a series of hires beginning about a year ago, and launched its fundraising in 2019. About 50 per cent of its maiden fund has just been raised. It made its first investment in May via a $400-million deal to take control of India Grid Trust (IndiGrid), the infrastructure investment trust of Sterlite Power Transmission.

Earlier this year, Spirng Energy, a renewable energy platform of Actis LLP, acquired 194 mw of solar assets from Shapoorji Pallonji Solar Holdings for an enterprise value of $200 million. Now the residual 260 mw is also up for grabs.

SP Group watchers said the divestments are part of a long-term strategy, launched in 2018, to deploy more capital and equity to develop greenfield assets. But matters have gone downhill since then, they said, with the group seeking an extension to repay an inter-company loan of Rs 2,341 crore (as of September 2019) to the recently listed EPC arm — Sterling and Wilson Solar.

KKR officials were not immediately available for comments.