| Mumbai, January 19th, 2006, In the presence of Mr.
P. Chidambaram, Honorable Finance Minister, Government of India, Mr.
Y. Miyauchi, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, ORIX Corporation
(ORIX), Japan, one of the world's largest financial services corporations,
and Mr. Ravi Parthasarathy, Chairman & Managing Director of Infrastructure
Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), India's leading
infrastructure development and financing institution, have entered
into a Joint Venture Agreement to jointly sponsor and manage the Pan
Asia Project Development Fund (The Fund) with a target size of USD
100 million. IL&FS and ORIX have each committed USD 10 million
to the Fund, which will fund the development of infrastructure projects
in principal Asian markets such as Indonesia, The Philippines, Malaysia,
Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries, including India.
Given the strong economic growth in India, local companies have
successfully demonstrated capabilities in developing infrastructure
projects in Asia. Due to their inherent cost advantages and technical
competencies, Indian companies are increasingly gaining a strong
foothold in the Asian infrastructure arena vis-à-vis their
western counterparts. Similarly, Japanese companies have proprietary
high-end technologies with the natural framework emerging for a
mutually beneficial Indo-Japanese partnership. Speaking on this
occasion, Mr. Anup Thakur, Economic Minister, Embassy of India in
Japan, said, "We are very pleased with this initiative which
is a true bi-lateral partnership between Indian and Japanese corporations.
It is our expectation that a host of infrastructure initiatives
with attendant project exports from the two countries could result
from this effort."
Infrastructure projects require seed capital funding for converting
the basic project concept into a bankable venture that incorporates
aspects such as the privatization framework, technical and environmental
studies, project cost, financial and legal structure, and financial
viability. A rigorous project development exercise results in the
project being ready for implementation, with bidders willing to
pay a premium as these projects can be taken up for construction
within a very short time period from the date of award of the bid,
resulting in significant time and cost savings for the bidders.
IL&FS has successfully developed, sponsored and implemented
a large number of infrastructure projects in India, and had earlier
set up the India Project Development Fund, which has been highly
successful.
The Asian infrastructure sector offers attractive investment opportunities,
and as per a study conducted by the World Bank, ADB, and JBIC, developing
Asian countries alone would need to spend more than USD one trillion
dollars over the next five years in various infrastructure sectors
such as surface transport, urban infrastructure, communications
and utilities.
The investment manager of the Fund is IL&FS Asian Infrastructure
Managers Limited, a joint venture company set up by IL&FS Investment
Managers Limited ("IIML"), the private equity investment
arm of IL&FS and ORIX Corporation.
About ORIX Corporation, Japan:
ORIX is an integrated financial services group based in Tokyo,
Japan, providing innovative value-added products and services to
both corporate and retail customers. With operations in 24 countries
and regions worldwide, ORIX's activities include corporate financial
services, such as leases and loans, as well as automobile operations,
rental operations, real estate-related finance, real estate, life
insurance, and investment banking. As of March 31, 2005, ORIX had
an asset book of USD 56.5 billion with revenues of over USD 8.5
billion. ORIX is listed on the Tokyo and New York Stock Exchanges.
ORIX has significant presence in the entire South East Asian region
and this presence can be leveraged with IL&FS project development
expertise to jointly take forward and consolidate on the proposed
activities of the Fund.
About IL&FS:
IL&FS is a multi-faceted organisation providing a range of
fund and non-fund based financial services. IL&FS has been mandated
with the commercialisation of infrastructure projects as well as
providing a wide range of financial services. Broadly, its activities
include financial services (including investment banking and asset
financing), commercialisation of infrastructure projects and asset
management. IL&FS has over the years established a unique positioning
in the infrastructure sector in India, as a developer, sponsor,
financier and facilitator. In the process, it has gained significant
experience in project development, taking projects from "concept"
to "commissioning" and has been able to establish linkages
with a range of engineering, technology and contracting companies,
both in India and overseas. IL&FS is currently working on the
development of projects of an aggregate cost in excess of USD 10
billion.
About IIML:
IIML is one of India's largest domestic private equity fund management
companies, managing over US$ 400 million on behalf of leading Indian
and international institutions. IIML presently manages an array
of funds focused on investments across infrastructure, life sciences,
manufacturing, information technology, and consumer services. IIML
is a publicly traded investment management company with its shareholding
divided amongst its Indian and International shareholders. While
IL&FS is the principal shareholder, Bank of India and IFC, Washington
are other prominent institutional shareholders
For further details, please contact:
Priyank Vashisht
Rediffusion DYR Public Relations
5605 7248 / 56827122
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