Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) are trading 19.40 points, or 1.51 per cent higher at 1,300.95 after the conglomerate decided to acquire a majority stake at Odisha’s Gopalpur Port.
The Adani group’s flagship company will acquire 95 per cent stake in the port — 56 per cent from Shapoorji Pallonji and 39 per cent from Orissa Stevedores — for an equity value of Rs 1,349 crore. The move is aimed at strengthening the company’s presence in India’s east coast.
“GPL (Gopalpur Port) 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,” said Karan Adani, managing director at Adani Ports.
The port, currently, handles a mix of dry bulk cargo that includes coal, iron ore, limestone, ilmenite among others.
A spokesperson for the SP Group said, “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.”
The acquisition remains subjected to regulatory and other approvals. India’s largest private port operator, APSEZ, is responsible for handling 12 ports and terminals along India’s east and west coast.
Located between Paradip port and Vizag port, Gopalpur Port has been operational since 2015 and primarily caters to the country’s steel industry. The port is connected to the Golden Quadrilateral via NH-516 and can handle a cargo of around 20 MMPTA. Back in 2006, the Odisha government granted a 30-year concession to GPL.
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