UPDATE 1-Brookfield buys into Indian infrastructure with road & power deal

(Adds deal value, adviser quote)
NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Canada's Brookfield Asset
Management BAMa.TO made its first significant investment in
Indian infrastructure, buying six road and three power projects
on Friday from India's Gammon Infrastructure Projects Limited
GAIN.NS .
A consortium composed of Brookfield and the Core
Infrastructure India Fund Pte Ltd are buying the projects, six
of which are operational, said Ambit Holdings, which advised
Gammon on the deal.
Indian infrastructure firms have spent the last two years
trying to sell assets to pay down debts after an economic
downturn squeezed cash flows and damaged their balance sheets,
although interest from foreign investors has remained muted.
"This transaction represents Brookfield's first major
investment in Indian infrastructure, and provides us a great
platform to participate in the Indian growth story over the long
term," Anuj Ranjan, Managing Partner at Brookfield, said in a
statement.
The deal includes an immediate cash payment of 5.63 billion
rupees ($85 million) and future undisclosed sums based on
certain performance targets being met, Rahul Mody, managing
director at Ambit Corporate Finance, told Reuters.
Recent government reforms, including a rule allowing
developers to exit road projects two years after completion,
have encouraged foreign investors to begin looking at investing
in Indian infrastructure again, Mody said.
"There is a steady increase in interest. But it needs to be
tapped properly and it will take time," he said.
Brookfield is a global asset manager with more than $200
billion in assets under management. Core Infrastructure India
Fund is a private equity group run by India's Kotak Mahindra.
The sale will allow Gammon, a medium-sized Indian
infrastructure firm majority owned by parent Gammon India Ltd
GAMM.NS , to cut its consolidated debt to 22.29 billion rupees
from 39.47 billion rupees.
($1 = 66.1400 Indian rupees)