Adani Ports & SEZ Completes Rs 1,485 Cr Acquisition Of Karaikal Port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), the largest transport utility in India, has completed the acquisition of Karaikal Port Private (KPPL) pursuant to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approval. Earlier, APSEZ was declared as the successful resolution applicant under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of KPPL.

“Acquisition consideration of Rs 1,485 crore implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of 8x on FY23 EBITDA number,” said a statement by APSEZ on Monday. APSEZ will spend another Rs 850 crore over time to upgrade infrastructure and reduce the logistics cost for customers.

The port gets a 14-meter water draft and has land area of over 600 acres. Its existing infrastructure includes five operational berths, three railway sidings, mechanised bulk cargo handling system including mechanised wagon-loading and truck-loading systems, two mobile harbour cranes and a large cargo storage space that includes open yards, 10 covered warehouses and four liquid storage tanks.  With a built-in cargo handling capacity of 21.5 million metric tone (MMT), the port primarily handles cement, fertilisers, limestone, steel and liquids.

The upcoming CPCL’s nine MMTPA new refinery at Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu presents an opportunity for Karaikal Port to handle an additional large volume of liquid cargo. Karan Adani, chief executive officer and whole-time director, APSEZ said, “The acquisition of Karaikal Port is another milestone in consolidating our position as India’s largest transport utility. With acquisition of Karaikal port APSEZ now operates 14 ports in India.

“We are envisaging to double the capacity of the port in the next 5 years and also add a container terminal to make it a multipurpose port,” he said.

Karaikal Port is an all-weather deep-water port on India’s eastern coast that was developed on the Build, Operate and Transfer format under the Public-Private Partnership by the Government of Puducherry. The Karaikal Port was commissioned in 2009, and was developed in the Karaikal District of the Union Territory of Puducherry, around 300 KMS south of Chennai. It is the only major port between Chennai & Tuticorin, and its strategic location allows the port easy access to the industrial-rich hinterland of Central Tamil Nadu.