Road sign indicating the direction of New Delhi airport, one of six airports operates by GMR Airports across india.gettyGMR Group—controlled by billionaire G.M. Rao—has agreed to buy a 7.3% stake in India’s GMR Airports from its French partner, Groupe ADP, in a deal worth as much as €924 million ($1 billion).Under the deal, Groupe ADP—the operator of three Paris airports—will first sell a 3.4% stake in GMR Airports to GMR Group for €256 million, with an option to sell another 3.9% for about €285 million. GMR Group will also buy €301 million worth of bonds convertible into GMR Airport shares from ADP in a deal expected to be completed by March 2027, the Paris-listed ADP said in a statement released on Thursday.“Groupe ADP is taking the opportunity to crystallise part of the value of its investment, while maintaining a significant economic exposure to the future growth potential of this key asset,” Philippe Pascal, chairman and CEO of ADP said in the statement. Groupe ADP said that the share sale represents a valuation that is four times higher than its initial investment. The cash from the transaction will be used to reduce debt in the short term and may fund a special dividend as early as this year. After the deal is completed, ADP said it will keep its governance rights and remain a co-promoter. It doesn’t plan to sell more of its stake in GMR Airports. GMR Group’s stake in GMR Airports will increase to 43.3%, while ADP"s stake will fall to 22.7% when the transaction is completed.MORE FOR YOU“Groupe ADP intends to maintain its exposure to the Indian airport sector through its significant economic interest and co-promoter role in GMR Airports,” Pascal said. “We remain fully committed to our strategy of value creation in international assets, in particular with our Indian partner."Groupe ADP acquired a 49% stake in GMR Airports in 2020 for about €1.3 billion, gaining strong governance rights and a foothold in fast-growing South and Southeast Asian markets. After a 2024 restructuring merged GMR Infrastructure with GMR Airports into a single listed entity, ADP split its holdings into equity and preferred shares, giving it 32.3% of share capital and 45.7% economic interest.GMR Group was founded by Rao, one of India’s wealthiest tycoons with an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time data. He is the controlling shareholder of GMR Airports, which operates airports in Hyderabad and Delhi, as well as Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, Indonesia. The company helped build the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in the Philippines, which has since been acquired by Aboitiz InfraCapital. In 2022, Rao separated the non-airport businesses into GMR Power and Urban Infra.