Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Saturday said that it has completed the acquisition of Karaikal Port Private Limited (KPPL) pursuant to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approval.
Earlier, APSEZ was declared a successful resolution applicant under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of KPPL.
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 and Tuticorin, and its strategic location allows the port easy access to the industrial-rich hinterland of Central Tamil Nadu.
Acquisition consideration of Rs 1,485 crore implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of 8x on the FY23 estimated numbers, APSEZ said in an official statement.
According to the statement, the port is in proximity to the containerized cargo-originating industrial centres of Tamil Nadu and the upcoming 9 MMTPA CPCL refinery.
“The acquisition of Karaikal Port is another milestone in consolidating our position as India’s largest transport utility. With the acquisition of Karaikal port APSEZ now operates 14 ports in India,” Karan Adani, CEO, and Whole-time Director, APSEZ said.
“APSEZ will spend further Rs 850 crores over time to upgrade infrastructure in order to reduce the logistics cost for the customers. We are envisaging to double the capacity of the port in the next 5 years and also add container terminal to make it a multipurpose port,” he added.
The port gets a 14-meter water draft and has a land area of over 600 acres. Its existing infrastructure includes 5 operational berths, 3 railway sidings, mechanized bulk cargo handling system including mechanised wagon-loading and truck-loading systems, 2 mobile harbour cranes, and a large cargo storage space that includes open yards, 10 covered warehouses, and 4 liquid storage tanks.
With a built-in cargo handling capacity of 21.5 MMT, the port primarily handles coal, cement, fertilizer, limestone, steel, and liquids. The upcoming CPCL’s 9 MMTPA new refinery at Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu presents an opportunity for Karaikal Port to handle an additional large volume of liquid cargo.
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