General Atlantic-owned infrastructure investor Actis LLP is looking to cash out, fully or partly, from its listed Indian roads platform Nxt-Infra Trust, three people aware of the matter told Mint.
“Actis is prepared to remain a co-investor or exit entirely depending on the valuation and the profile of the incoming investor,” one of the persons said on condition of anonymity.
The mandate had been languishing for about six months, the second person said, on the condition of anonymity. “A Big Four adviser was originally onboarded to take the company through the mandate, but Ambit was later hired following a period of inactivity and execution hurdles.”
The earlier outreach was focused largely on a small set of large private equity firms, this person added. “The expectation is that Ambit will present the asset to a more diversified set of buyers beyond the usual global pension funds.”
The valuation Actis has sought for Nxt-Infra Trust could not be immediately ascertained.
Actis refused to comment on the story. Emails sent to Ambit and Nxt-Infra on Monday remained unanswered till press time.
Strong investor appetite
Interest in road assets has been buoyant in India lately, driven by the availability of a large number of assets that attract large institutional investors, including pension and sovereign wealth funds.
The current market for Indian road assets is characterized by a high volume of supply as multiple sponsors seek to deleverage and recycle capital, experts said.
"InvITs in India have evolved from a balance-sheet monetisation tool into a sophisticated capital recycling platform," explained Raheel Patel, partner at Gandhi Law Associates.
"For infrastructure sponsors, particularly in roads and transportation, they now provide an efficient route to monetize operational assets, unlock capital and redeploy it into new projects, while offering long-term yield products to institutional investors."
Over the last few years, Sebi's regulatory refinements have materially strengthened this ecosystem by improving governance, disclosure standards, related-party oversight and structural flexibility, he explained. "That regulatory certainty has made sponsor transitions, stake sales and secondary transactions far smoother."
Actis is expected to move the process into the due diligence phase over the coming months, the people said. The final terms of the deal, including how much stake Actis retains, will depend on the outcome of the outreach process.
A third person close to the development said while no full exits are planned yet, Actis does intend to dilute a portion of its shareholding and raise additional capital for further expansion of the InvIT.
"It is a complex process requiring several regulatory and stakeholder approvals, and is progressing as per plan," this person said. "Actis decided to work with a set of domestic advisors as the targeted investor profile is mostly domestic institutional investors."
Nxt-Infra Trust’s portfolio
Nxt-Infra Trust, sponsored by Actis Highway Infra Ltd, owns and operates a portfolio of six project SPVs comprising 14 road stretches spanning an aggregate length of over 2,000 lane kilometres, located in high-traffic corridors across Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The portfolio is a mix of toll and annuity assets, where revenue is linked to traffic volume, and annuity projects.
Actis had acquired the road portfolio from Welspun Enterprises Ltd in June 2022 at an enterprise valuation of about $775 million, or roughly ₹6,030 crore at the time.
The InvIT listed on the National Stock Exchange in July 2024 after raising ₹1,520 crore in primary capital. Of this, ₹1,120 crore came from sponsor Actis Highway Infra, while the remaining ₹400 crore was subscribed by domestic institutional investors.
Currently, the InvIT has a market capitalization of around ₹2,800 crore. According to the latest filings on the NSE, the ownership is concentrated with the sponsor group, which holds around 86% of the InvIT.
InvITs drive monetization
The InvIT structure is designed to provide long-term, stable yields to investors. Under Sebi regulations, these trusts must distribute at least 90% of their net distributable cash flows to unit holders. This regulatory framework has made Indian infrastructure assets attractive to yield-seeking investors.
The Nxt-Infra Trust offered a distribution of ₹7.4825 per unit in the quarter ended December 2025, and has a high distribution yield of around 13-20% based on data from online investment platforms.
The government has used the InvIT model as a primary tool for its national monetization pipeline. By allowing developers and investors to move operational assets into these trusts, the government enables the recycling of capital into new construction projects. The road sector has been one of the most active areas in this program.
Interest in road assets has been buoyant in India lately. In July 2025, Nxt-Infra informed the exchanges about a potential acquisition of four additional road assets worth around 860 lane kilometers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. These assets would be acquired from sellers, including Actis entities and Pacific Alliance Stradec Group Infrastructure Company LLC. In April 2026, Nxt-Infra proposed to add Calicut Expressway Pvt to its InvIT from an Actis entity.
In April 2026, in one of the largest toll road divestments in the country, Australian asset manager Macquarie Asset Management sold its Indian platform to French engineering and infrastructure firm Vinci SA for an implied enterprise value of approximately $1.7 billion ( ₹15,000 crore).
Macquarie is also reportedly seeking a stake in Canadian institutional investor CDPQ-backed Maple Infrastructure Trust. KKR has been consolidating its road portfolio under Vertis, as it aims to build a platform large enough to rival Singapore-based Cube Highways.
Currently, Actis is navigating the stake sale of renewables platform BluPine Energy, and has picked Standard Chartered Bank for the proposed $2 billion deal, The Economic Times reported on 24 April.