Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd., the largest port operator in India, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire 95% stake in Gopalpur Ports Ltd. from its existing shareholders for a cash consideration of ₹1,349 crore, it said in an exchange filing on Tuesday.
The transaction implies an enterprise value of ₹3,080 crore and is subject to closing adjustments.
As part of the 95% stake, Adani Ports has acquired 56% stake from SP Port Maintenance Pvt. Ltd., which is part of the SP Group, and a 39% stake from Orissa Stevedores Ltd.
This transaction is subject to approval from the Commerce and Transport Department of the Government of Odisha and is likely to be completed by the first quarter of financial year 2025.
Gopalpur Ports Ltd. is engaged in the business of handline various types of dry bulk and break bulk cargo and is a deep draft, multi-cargo port. It handles a diverse mix of dry bulk cargo, including iron ore, coal, limestone, ilmenite sand and alumina.
In financial year 2023, it handled 7.4 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of Cargo and has a capacity of 20 MMT. It is estimated to handle 11.3 MMT of Cargo in the current financial year and is expected to earn operational revenue of ₹520 crore, Adani Ports said.
Adani Ports further highlighted that the investment is in line with their strategy of East Coast to West Coast parity and Gopalpur Port’s location will allow it unprecedented access to the mining hubs of Odisha and neighbouring states.
“GPL will add to the Adani Group’s pan-India port network, east coast vs west coast cargo volume parity and strengthen APSEZ’s integrated logistics approach,” Adani Ports Managing Director Karan Adani said.
“In our view, the Gopalpur Port is all set for strong growth and margin expansion in financial year 2025 with opportunities already identified for achieving higher operational efficiencies and infra debottlenecking, implying further value accretion for APSEZ shareholders,” he added.
Adani Ports had reported a Cargo volume growth of 33% in February and had mentioned that it is on track to surpass its volume guidance for financial year 2024.
For the first 11 months of financial year 2024, the company has handled 382 MMT of cargo after February’s data. It crossed the 350 MMT cargo volume mark at its domestic ports in 318 days of the financial year.
Shares of Adani Ports ended 1.1% higher at ₹1,276 last Friday. The stock has gained 103% over the last 12 months.
