Adani Ports confirms Krishnapatnam Port full buy-out

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. (APSEZ) has acquired the remaining 25% of the Adani Krishnapatnam Port Ltd. making the company the sole owner of the facility for approximately US$382 million.

Krishnapatnam Port is located on the east coast of India in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh (180km north of Chennai Port) close to the border between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

It is a deep water port, which has a multi-cargo facility, handling more than 506,000TEU in 2018/19, the last year for which figures are available, and the expectation that the container terminal, ro-ro and other facilities will be upgraded within the next few years. The current capacity of 64 Million tonnes/year. With a waterfront of 20km and 27.5km² of land, Krishnapatnam Port has a planned capacity of 300 million tonnes/year with a 50-year concession.

“The consolidation of our ownership in Krishnapatnam Port reinforces APSEZ’s stride towards 500 million tonnes by 2025 and achieving our broader strategy of cargo parity between west and east coasts of India,” said Karan Adani, chief executive officer and whole time director of APSEZ and added that the port is expected to handle double traffic volumes by 2025.

The port is expected to have volumes of 38 million tonnes, revenues of US$251 million and EBITDA of US$185 million in the fiscal year 2021.

The remaining 25% stake was bought from the Indian company Vishwa Samudra Holdings. Together with the 75% ownership acquired in October 2020, the full acquisition of the port implies an enterprise value of US$1.865 billion.

“We are confident that we will be able to double throughput and triple EBITDA at Krishnapatnam Port by 2025. We are committed to making Krishnapatnam Port the gateway port for South Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. With its large industrial land backed with the port we will transform Krishnapatnam into a manufacturing and industrial hub,” commented Karan Adani.