New Delhi: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone on Tuesday (March 26) said it is looking to buy a 95% stake in Odisha’s Gopalpur Port – an arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group – for Rs 3,080 crore.
According to Reuters, Adani Ports will purchase a 56% stake in Gopalpur Port from Shapoorji Pallonji Group and a 39% stake from Orissa Stevedores.
Operational since 2015, Gopalpur Port holds strategic importance as it connects Paradip Port and Vizag Port with access to the Golden Quadrilateral through NH-516. It offers excellent rail and road connectivity.
Gopalpur Port handles dry bulk cargo, such as iron ore, coal, limestone, ilmenite, and alumina. Adani Ports develops and operates approximately 12 ports and terminals along the west and east coasts of India.
“GPL (Gopalpur Port) will add to the Adani Group’s pan-India port network, east coast vs west coast cargo volume parity and strengthen APSEZ’s integrated logistics approach,” Karan Adani, managing director at Adani Ports, told Reuters.
Gopalpur Port and Petronet LNG have decided to build a greenfield LNG regasification station, which will give the port steady, long-term cash flows, the Group said, per moneycontrol.
According to Hindustan Times, this is the second port divestment in the last few months from Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which had earlier sold its Dharamtar Port to JSW Infrastructure Limited for Rs 710 crore.
In October 2023, the Economic Times reported that JSW Infrastructure had also expressed interest in buying Gopalpur Ports at an estimated enterprise value of Rs 3,000 crore.
The news of the potential acquisition comes more than a year after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. These allegations are being investigated by the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
SEBI was expected to submit its final report on August 14 last year, a deadline that had been extended multiple times. However, it’s still not clear when the regulator will submit its report.
The probe delves into the complexities surrounding foreign portfolio investors’ ownership, concerns related to corporate governance, such as related party transactions, and auditors’ roles. However, it was challenging even for the regulator to investigate some of these issues due to certain changes in the law made years ago.
The Adani group had rejected all these allegations.
