Cube Highways Trust, an Indian infrastructure investment trust backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Co. has kicked off roadshows for its initial public offering (IPO), aiming for an October launch, according to two people familiar with the matter.
"Volatility in the primary market is receding and there is a stable window for large-scale institutional fundraising," said an investment banker involved in the transaction, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. "Though the DRHP (draft red herring prospectus) was filed in March, it was important to wait out a few uncertain months."
Now, the company is reaching out to a select set of domestic and overseas institutions before a decision on pricing can be made, this person added.
The trust is seeking to raise ₹5,000 crore through the sale, which will be structured as an offer for sale by existing unitholders.
A second person confirmed the development but said the timelines can contract or stretch out depending on the kind of demand the roadshows fetch.
A representative for Cube Highways did not respond to requests for comment.
Mint had reported on 24 June how, days after the big-ticket IPOs of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and Jio Platforms Ltd were filed with the markets regulator, investment bankers were betting on a positive liquidity sentiment to launch roadshows for other private equity-backed IPO mandates.
The listing plans follow a period of growth for the platform. Cube Highways listed its private ordinary units in April 2023 with anchor investments from British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Mubadala. Currently, the trust has a market capitalization of around ₹20,400 crore, with a free float of units worth ₹11,972 crore.
The infrastructure vehicle filed preliminary documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to convert from a privately listed infrastructure investment trust to a public trust. Unitholders planning to sell stakes include sponsor group entities Cube Highways and Infrastructure II, Cube Highways and Infrastructure III, Cube Mobility Investment, as well as Canadian infra major BCI and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co., the draft prospectus showed.
As of September 2025, the trust managed an asset portfolio valued at ₹36,520 crore, spanning 27 highway and toll road projects across 12 Indian states. It implements the public-private partnership model in the country's highways sector in association with central and state governments.
Cube plans to add four road projects prior to the listing, bringing its network to 31 projects covering 9,811 lane kilometers.
The shift to a public structure is intended to expand the investor base. Under local rules, institutional participation from mutual funds and insurance firms in private trusts is restricted due to liquidity requirements. Transitioning to a public format allows these domestic funds to acquire stakes.
The capital markets activity comes amid fundraising in India's infrastructure sector. The government-backed Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust raised ₹6,000 crore through an offering earlier this year. Kotak Mahindra Capital Co, HDFC Bank, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets India Pvt, and JM Financial Ltd are advising on the transaction.
According to a joint report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Crisil Intelligence on 18 March, India's InvITs have emerged as the dominant vehicle for highway asset monetisation, "with road InvIT assets under management projected to more than double in five years—from ₹2.46 lakh crore to ₹5.45 lakh crore by fiscal 2030."
This bullishness stems from the central government's launch of the National Monetization Pipeline 2.0, which targets ₹16.7 trillion across 12 infrastructure sectors through fiscal 2030, with highways having a target of ₹4.14 trillion, making them the single largest sectoral allocation in the pipeline. Of this, ₹3.35 trillion is earmarked specifically for monetization through InvIT and TOT (toll operate transfer) structures, corresponding to 19,200 km of road assets.