NEW DELHI : The Shapoorji Pallonji Group has sold its stake in Gopalpur Port Limited (GPL) to Adani Ports and SEZ Limited (APSEZ) for an enterprise value of Rs 3,350 crore.
APSEZ, India’s largest port operator, will buy 56% stake of SP Group and 39% of Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) in GPL at an enterprise value of Rs 3,080 crore. In addition, there is a contingent consideration of Rs 270 crores estimated to be payable after 5.5 years.
This is the second port divestment in the last few months from the SP Group, the second largest stakeholder in the Tata Group. It had earlier divested its Dharamtar Port to billionaire Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Infrastructure for an enterprise value of Rs 710 crore.
With these asset sales, SP Group said it continues its deleveraging journey with planned asset monetisation to marquee counterparts. The Gopalpur stake sale comes amid report that SP Group is in talks with multiple lenders to raise as much as Rs 20,000 crore to refinance debt.
“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,” said a Shapoorji Pallonji Group spokesperson. The spokesperson added, “These divestments are key milestones in our roadmap to reduce Group debt and set the stage for growth, taking advantage of the macro trends for demand in our core businesses, both in India and overseas”.
For Adani, however, the takeover is another addition to its ever-growing port portfolio. Adani now operates 7 ports and terminals on the west coast and 7 on the East coast of India, representing 27% of the country’s total port volumes. It is also developing a transhipment port at Colombo, Sri Lanka and operates the Haifa Port in Israel.
Karan Adani, MD of APSEZ, said the location will allow them unprecedented access to the mining hubs of Odisha and neighboring states and allow them to expand our hinterland logistics footprint. Gopalpur port has the capacity to handle 20 MMTPA. In FY’24, GPL is estimated to handle about 11.3 MMT cargo (YoY growth of 52%) and earn a revenue of Rs 520 cr (YoY growth: 39%) and achieve EBITDA of Rs 232 crore (YoY growth: 65%). The Odisha government awarded a 30-year concession to GPL in 2006, with the provision of two extensions of 10 years each.