Adani Ports gets NCLT approval to acquire Gangavaram port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd has received approvals from NCLT Ahmedabad and NCLT Hyderabad for acquiring the remaining 58.1% stake in Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL) through the composite scheme of arrangement.

With this stake purchase, GPL will become a 100% subsidiary of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, the Adani Group company says in an exchange filing.

"Acquisition of GPL is a key milestone in consolidating our position as India's largest transport utility and in achieving East Coast & West Coast parity. Gangavaram Port has excellent rail & road network connectivity and is the business gateway to the hinterland spread over eight states. The recent addition of a container handling terminal will enable us to accelerate our growth of cargo volumes," says Karan Adani, CEO and whole-time director, APSEZ.

APSEZ also brings logistics synergies to the table, which will propel Gangavaram Port to a potential cargo volume of 250 MMT, says Adani, adding that this will boost the pace of industrialisation of Andhra Pradesh.

Gangavaram Port is located in the northern part of Andhra Pradesh next to Vizag Port. It is the third largest non-major port in Andhra Pradesh with a 64 MMT capacity established under concession from the Andhra Pradesh government that extends till 2059.

The deep water, multipurpose port operates 9 berths and has freehold land of around 1,800 acres. With a master plan capacity for 250 MMTPA with 31 berths, GPL has sufficient headroom to support future growth, says APSEZ.

Gangavaram Port, which is the gateway port for a hinterland spread over 8 states across eastern, southern and central India, handles a diverse mix of dry and bulk commodities including coal, iron ore, fertiliser, limestone, bauxite, sugar, alumina, and steel.

GPL will benefit from APSEZ's pan-India footprint, logistics integration, and operational efficiencies among others to deliver a combination of high growth by enhancing market share and adding additional cargo types and improved margins and returns, the Adani Group says.

In FY2022, the port handled cargo volumes of around 30 million metric tonnes, generated revenue of ₹1,206 crore and EBITDA of ₹796 crore, which resulted in EBITDA margin of 66%. GPL is a debt-free company with a cash balance of ₹1,293 crore as of March 2022.

The acquisition of GPL is priced at around ₹6,200 crore. APSEZ has already acquired 31.5% stake in the company from Warburg Pincus and another 10.4% from the Government of Andhra Pradesh during FY22. The acquisition of 58.1% stake from DVS Raju & family will be through a share swap arrangement and will result in issuance of around 47.7 million APSEZ shares to the erstwhile GPL promoters.

Meanwhile, Adani Group's renewable energy arm Adani Green Energy on Monday said it has acquired three wind power units from Inox Green Energy Services Ltd, each housing 50 megawatt operational wind power projects.