Cube Highways begins roadshow for ₹5,000 IPO, expected October launch | Today’s news
Cube Highways Trust, an Indian infrastructure investment fund backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Co., has started a roadshow on its initial public offering (IPO), targeting an October launch, according to two people familiar with the matter.
“Primary market volatility is subsiding 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 because the discussions are private. “Although the DRHP (draft red herring prospectus) was filed in March, it was important to wait a few uncertain months.”
The company is now approaching a select group of domestic and overseas institutions before a pricing decision can be made, the person added.
Trust is trying to increase ₹5,000 crore through the sale, which will be structured as an offer for sale by the existing unit owners.
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A second person confirmed the development, but said the timelines could shorten or lengthen depending on the kind of demand the road show generates.
A representative for Cube Highways did not respond to requests for comment.
For context, IPO roadshows are a series of presentations led by company executives and underwriting investment bankers to sell the offering to institutions, family offices and brokers. This helps them gauge demand among a large group of investors before pricing it.
Mint reported on June 24 how, days after the big IPOs of National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and Jio Platforms Ltd were filed with the markets regulator, investment bankers were betting on positive liquidity sentiment to launch a roadshow for more private equity-backed IPO mandates.
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Listing plans follow a period of platform growth. Cube Highways listed its private common units in April 2023 with anchor investment from British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Mubadala. Currently, the trust has a market capitalization of around ₹20,400 crore, with free floating units in value ₹11,972 crores.
The infrastructure vehicle has submitted preliminary documents to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to convert from a privately listed infrastructure investment fund to a public fund. Shareholders planning to sell stakes include sponsor groups Cube Highways and Infrastructure II, Cube Highways and Infrastructure III, Cube Mobility Investment, as well as Canadian infrastructure major BCI and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co., the draft prospectus showed.
As of September 2025, the trust managed a portfolio of assets worth ₹36,520 crore, comprising 27 highway and toll road projects in 12 Indian states. It implements a public-private partnership model in the country’s highways sector in collaboration with the central and state governments.
Cube plans to add four road projects before listing, expanding its network to 31 projects covering 9,811 driving kilometers.
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The transition to a public structure aims to expand the investor base. Under local rules, institutional participation by mutual funds and insurance companies in private trusts is limited due to liquidity requirements. The move to a public format allows these domestic funds to acquire stakes.
The capital markets activity comes amid fundraising in India’s infrastructure sector. Government-backed Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust has increased ₹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 March 18 joint report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Crisil Intelligence, India’s InvITs have become the dominant vehicle for monetizing highway assets, “with the projected increase in road InvIT assets under management more than doubling in five years – from ₹2.46 million crowns ₹5.45 lakh crore by fiscal year 2030.”
This bullish sentiment stems from the central government’s launch of the National Monetization Channel 2.0, which focuses on ₹16.7 trillion in 12 infrastructure sectors by FY 2030, with highways targeting ₹4.14 trillion, making it the single largest sectoral allocation in the process. from that ₹3.35 trillion is earmarked specifically for monetization through InvIT and TOT (toll operation transfer) structures, equivalent to 19,200 km of road assets.
