Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 80% stake in Astro, in an all-cash deal for $185 million, implying an enterprise value (EV) of $235 million and EV / FY25E earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at 4.4 times. The transaction is expected to be value accretive from the first year itself, said APSEZ on Friday.
Incorporated in 2009, Astro is an offshore support vessel (OSV) operator in the Middle East, India, Far East Asia and Africa. Astro owns a fleet of 26 OSVs comprising of Anchor Handling Tugs (AHTs), flat top barges, Multipurpose Support Vessels (MPSVs) and workboats and provides vessel management and complementary services.
During the year ending 30 April 2024, Astro posted $95 million in revenue and $41 million in EBITDA. As of 30 April 2024, Astro was net cash positive.
“Astro’s acquisition is part of our roadmap to becoming one of the world’s largest marine operators. Astro will add 26 OSVs to our current fleet of 142 tugs and dredgers, taking the total count to 168. The acquisition will also give us access to an impressive roster of Tier-1 customers while further consolidating our footprint across the Arabian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent and Far East Asia,” said Mr Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director & CEO of APSEZ.
Astro, a key player in the offshore construction & fabrication and offshore transportation markets, has a roster of Tier-1 customers including NMDC, McDermott, COOEC, Larsen & Toubro and Saipem. According to APSEZ, Astro leverages an efficient mix of medium to long-term contracts with customers, which allows it to maintain high fleet utilization and benefit from increasing charter rates, driven by limited supply of OSV fleet globally.
“This partnership with APSEZ represents a critical inflection point for us. Together, we can accelerate growth to add further scale and diversity to our fleet mix, expand our geographical footprint and deliver more end-to-end solutions to our customers,” said Mark Humphreys, Managing Director of Astro Offshore.
There are no regulatory approvals required and the transaction is expected to close within a month, subject to fulfilment of operational conditions precedent.