Adani Ports to acquire 95 pc stake in Gopalpur Port

New Delhi: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) on Tuesday announced the acquisition of 95 per cent stake in Gopalpur Port in Odisha from Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Orissa Stevedores Limited at an equity value of Rs 1,349 crore.

In Gopalpur Port, Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) firm SP Port Maintenance Private Limited has 56 per cent stake and Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) has 44 per cent stake. Gopalpur Port is an all-weather deep-water berthing port with a capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) situated in Ganjam district of Odisha.

In a regulatory filing, APSEZ said it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire the entire 56 per cent shareholding of SP Group and 39 per cent stake of OSL in Gopalpur Port Limited (GPL). The OSL will continue as a JV partner with a 5 per cent stake, the filing added.

The APSEZ said the equity consideration for 95 per cent stake is Rs 1,349 crore, with an enterprise value of Rs 3,080 crore, subject to closing adjustments.

In addition to the enterprise value stated above there is a contingent consideration of Rs 270 crore estimated to be payable after 5.5 years, subject to fulfilment of certain conditions as agreed with the sellers, it added. Along with deferred payments, total enterprise value is Rs 3,350 crore.

In a separate filing, SP Group said it has agreed to sell its stake in Gopalpur Port to APSEZ at an enterprise value of Rs 3,350 crore, as part of its deleveraging strategy with planned asset monetisation.

“Acquisition of Gopalpur Ports Limited (GPL) will drive synergy with our existing ports and strengthen APSEZ’s presence on the East Coast,” APSEZ said.

“The acquisition of Gopalpur Port will allow us to deliver more integrated and enhanced solutions to our customers,” APSEZ Managing Director Karan Adani said. Adani said its location will allow APSEZ unprecedented access to the mining hubs of Odisha and neighbouring States and “allow us to expand our hinterland logistics footprint.” The port had recently signed up with Petronet LNG to set up a greenfield LNG regasification terminal.

In FY24, GPL is estimated to handle about 11.3 MMT cargo (up 52 per cent Y-o-Y) and earn a revenue of Rs 520 crore (up 39 per cent Y-o-Y). The estimated EBITDA will be Rs 232 crore (YoY growth of 65 per cent).

“In our view, the Gopalpur Port is all set for strong growth and margin expansion in FY’25 with opportunities already identified for achieving higher operational efficiencies and infra debottlenecking, implying further value accretion for APSEZ shareholders,” APSEZ said.

According to the APSEZ statement, Odisha government had awarded a 30-year concession to GPL in 2006, with the provision of two extensions of 10 years each. The SP Group said the port is capable of handling 20 MTPA of cargo volume.

The sale of the Gopalpur Port is the second port divestment in the last few months from the SP Group, a diversified construction and infrastructure, real estate and energy conglomerate. It had earlier divested its Dharamtar Port in Maharashtra to JSW Infrastructure Ltd at an enterprise value of Rs 710 crore.

“The planned divestments of Gopalpur Port and Dharamtar Port, at a significant enterprise value, demonstrate our group’s ability to turn around assets and create stakeholder value in a relatively short period of time, capitalising our core strengths in project development and construction,” a Shapoorji Pallonji Group spokesperson said.

As a deep draft, multi-cargo port, Gopalpur handles a diverse mix of dry bulk cargo, including iron ore, coal, limestone, ilmenite, and alumina.

The port plays an important role in supporting the growth of mineral-based industries in its hinterland, like iron & steel, alumina and others.