Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Saturday, 1 April, said that it has completed the acquisition of Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd (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 in Puducherry with five operational berths, three railway sidings, total land area of over 600 hectares, and a built-in cargo handling capacity of 21.5 million metric tonnes (MMT).
The acquisition
“Acquisition consideration of ₹1,485 crore implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of 8x on the FY23 estimated numbers,” APSEZ said, in a 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 Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) refinery.
APSEZ CEO and whole-time Director Karan Adani said, “With the acquisition of Karaikal port, APSEZ now operates 14 ports in India. APSEZ will spend further ₹850 crore 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 five years and also add a container terminal to make it a multipurpose port,” he added.
Also Read: APSEZ all set to acquire remaining 58.1% share in Gangavaram port
About the Karaikal Port
The Karaikal Port was commissioned in 2009 and was developed in the Karaikal district of the Union Territory of Puducherry, around 300 km 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. The port gets a 14-metre water draft and has a land area of over 600 acres.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones, the flagship transportation arm of the diversified Adani group, is India’s largest private ports and logistics company.
Also Read: CPCL fixes leakage in Nagore Pattiancherry coast in Tamil Nadu
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
