France’s Vinci eyes India return with $2 billion Macquarie deal

Macquarie, Safeway Concessions Pvt. started selling the highway assets located under it. It is seeking around $1.2 billion in September 2025 for the portfolio it acquired in India’s first toll-operate-transfer (ToT) tender in 2018. ₹9,681 crore or approximately $1.49 billion.

The race for the assets narrowed to three candidates in the following months: Vinci Highways, Vinci’s franchise unit; EAAA India Alternatives Ltd’s Sekura Roads linked to IPO; and as reported by KKR’s Vertis Infrastructure Foundation Economic Times In November 2025.

Vinci, one of the two men mentioned above on condition of anonymity, emerged as the frontrunner for the deal that could fetch $2 billion for Safeway Concessions’ assets.

The second person also confirmed the development and added that the deal could be finalized in the coming weeks if both parties agree on certain terms.

Once the deal is completed, nine toll road projects spread over 681 kilometers in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are expected to be handed over to the French company. Its highways portfolio serves 38 million passengers every year and employs over 1,700 people.

For Vinci, this will mark the culmination of his attempts to return to India after leaving the country in 2015 amid policy changes in the road assets industry.

The company initially intended to form a joint venture with BlackRock-backed infrastructure fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), but the talks fell through, the first person said.

Vinci will likely set up an India unit to house road assets and avoid putting them in infrastructure investment trusts due to complex regulatory procedures, the second person added.

Mint‘s emailed comments questions to Vinci and Macquarie remained unanswered.

Vinci Highways saw its annual revenue rise 11% on a like-for-like basis to €543 million for the year ending December 2025. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) reached €282 million, or 51.9% of revenue. The company also recorded free cash flow of close to €90 million.

Investor interest

Vinci’s interest in India’s road assets is not unusual.

Media reports suggest that Macquarie is also seeking a stake in Canadian institutional investor CDPQ-backed Maple Infrastructure Trust. KKR is consolidating its roads portfolio under the Vertis umbrella as it aims to create a platform large enough to rival Singapore-based Cube Highways. Meanwhile, Cube has acquired two-year road assets in Jammu and Kashmir in 2025.

In early 2024, the KKR-backed Highways Infrastructure Trust also signed definitive agreements to acquire a dozen road projects from PNC Infratech Ltd. ₹9,005 crore.

Interest in pathways is driven by factors such as the availability of multiple assets that have allowed large institutional investors, including pension and public wealth funds, to flock. Macquarie’s holdings are also sweetened by the fact that they have a 30-year concession period.

Vinci’s India claim also comes at a time when India’s revenue from roads appears stable.

Ratings agency Icra expects the sector to remain healthy in 2025-26. “The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has identified 24 assets across 12 states that can be monetized through ToT and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) modes. The 24 identified assets can be aggregated ₹21,000-24,000 crore for NHAI, the agency said in a March 2025 report.

Icra also expects toll growth to be around 2.5-3.9% in 2025-26, which is estimated to lead to a 7-9% increase in toll collections along with a 3-5% traffic increase.

“Additionally, competitive intensity is expected to remain high as developers continue to bid aggressively to bolster their order books.”