AMAYA Capital Ltd and Azura Power Holdings Ltd yesterday announced they have reached financial close for Amaya Capital’s flagship West Africa power investment, the 450MW Azura-Edo Independent Power Project (IPP) in Edo State.

The $876 million transaction is the first of a new wave of project-financed green field IPPs currently being developed in Nigeria. The financing of the Azura-Edo IPP involves $190 million of equity and $686 million of debt from a consortium of local and international financiers.

Azura is majority-owned by Amaya Capital, the founder and lead sponsor of the project and American Capital Energy and Infrastructure. Other equity investors in the Azura-Edo project include funds managed by African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), Aldwych Azura Ltd and the ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund.
The completion of financing for Azura represents the second major infrastructure investment by Amaya Capital, the first being Seven Energy, the gas infrastructure company.

Through its investments in Seven Energy and Azura, Amaya Capital has been the lead sponsor and active investor in two companies responsible for the deployment of over $3 billion of capital in the gas and power segments of the energy sector in Nigeria.

Managing Director of Azura, Dr. David Ladipo, said: “Nigeria should be proud, particularly at this difficult time when the world is facing so much uncertainty, that it has been able attract over a billion dollars of financing to build a power and a gas facility from the world’s best-in-class financing institutions across 14 countries as well as local financing from Nigeria itself.”

Mr. Sundeep Bahanda and Mr. Phillip Ihenacho, co-founders of Amaya Capital, said: “Azura is a demonstration of Amaya Capital’s long-term commitment to investing in gas and power infrastructure in West Africa, and represents Amaya’s second major investment after Seven Energy, the gas infrastructure company.”