Adani acquires 100% of Krishnapatnam Port

Nellore: Adani Ports has acquired 100 percent stake in the Krishnapatnam Port, according to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ). They said it had acquired 25 per cent stake of the Vishwa Samudra Holdings in Krishnapatnam Port for Rs 2,800 crore on Monday and with this APSEZ has increased its stake from 75 percent to 100 percent.

The Krishnapatnam Port, located on the east coast of India in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, is an all-weather, deep water port has multi-cargo facility with a current capacity of 64 million tonne per annum (MTPA).

"APSEZ is the flagship transportation arm of the diversified Adani Group. With a waterfront of 20 km and 6,800 acres of land, the Krishnapatnam Port has a master plan capacity of 300 MTPA and a 50-year concession. Together with the 75 per cent ownership acquired in October 2020, the acquisition implies an enterprise value of Rs 13,675 crore implying an EV/ FY21 EBITDA multiple of 10.3x," the company said.

The port is expected to have volumes of 38 MT, revenues of Rs 1,840 crore and EBITDA of Rs 1,325 crore in FY21, it said. Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director of APSEZ, said, "The consolidation of our ownership in Krishnapatnam Port reinforces APSEZ's stride towards 500 MMT by 2025 and achieving our broader strategy of cargo parity between west and east coasts of India."

He said Krishnapatnam Port is on track to handle double the traffic by 2025 and will deliver high growth through a multi-product and cargo enhancement strategy while enhancing return on capital employed.

"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," Adani added.

APSEZ is the largest port developer and operator in India with 12 strategically located ports and terminals — Mundra, Dahej, Tuna and Hazira in Gujarat, Dhamra in Odisha, Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Dighi in Maharashtra and Kattupalli and Ennore in Chennai.

These represent 24 per cent of the country's total port capacity, handling vast amounts of cargo from both coastal areas and the vast hinterland. The company is also developing a transhipment port at Vizhinjam, Kerala.