Firm Matters

Khaitan & Co advised NIIF on the first closing of NIIF Infrastructure Fund II (Fund), its second flagship infrastructure fund. The first closing was announced with aggregate commitments of INR 19,000 crores (~USD 2 billion). The milestone represents over 60% of the Fund’s INR 30,000 crores (~USD 3.2 billion) target size.

The first close is anchored by the Government of India and supported by a high-quality investor base spanning sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies and leading Indian financial institutions. Global institutional investors include AustralianSuper; CPP Investments; a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA); Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; and Temasek; alongside leading Indian institutions including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Life Insurance and HDFC Life Insurance.

The capital was raised through a combination of direct commitments to the Fund and through a feeder fund in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Feeder Fund).

The fund is the largest AIF in India in terms of capital raised. Further, the Fund is a sovereign-anchored fund with the Government of India acting as an anchor investor for the Fund, along with several marquee global institutional investors.

The Firm acted as the lead fund counsel and advised NIIF on the establishment and registration of the Fund and Feeder Fund, including advice on key structuring aspects and regulatory considerations. The firm also assisted NIIF in the fund-raising process, acting as the lead counsel for engagement with investors of the Fund and negotiating key terms in the fund documents.