Answered by Manish Satnaliwala | Founder and Managing Director, TruNorth | NorthAxis Advisory
A sponsor must look for actual infrastructure operating and financial structuring experience, not just generic investment banking pedigree. An InvIT advisor must understand toll concession economics, transmission availability mechanisms, renewable tariff PPAs, and cash trap covenants as intimately as capital market valuation multiples.
The ideal advisory partner works on the sponsor's side of the table as an objective strategist, independently auditing asset quality, designing optimal capital structures, and stress-testing distribution assumptions before external intermediaries are mandated.
Furthermore, ensure the partner understands the full lifecycle: from private establishment, debt restructuring, and governance systems, to public listing readiness and continuing asset acquisitions.
Intermediaries incentivized purely by transaction success fees may push a sponsor into issuing at suboptimal valuations or accepting onerous governance covenants. An independent advisory partner aligns with the sponsor's long-term enterprise value and capital recycling objectives.
Evidence that the leadership has navigated real InvIT platforms, institutional investor roadshows, and regulatory discussions.
Capability to dissect engineering reports, traffic studies, O&M budgets, and contractual escalation clauses.
Independence from underwriting syndicates ensures advice on timing, pricing, and structure is untainted by distribution pressures.
Precise grasp of current SEBI InvIT regulations, RBI guidelines for bank lending to InvITs, and tax pass-through frameworks.
Look for advisors who challenge your assumptions about your assets before investors do. If your advisor only tells you what you want to hear about valuation, you will pay for that courtesy during institutional due diligence.