Adani Ports increases ownership stake in Krishnampatnam Port to 100%

Karan Adani, CEO of APSEZ

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has acquired the remaining 25% stake in Krishnapatnam Prot from Vishwasamudra Holdings, giving it 100% ownership of the hub on the east coast of India.

The deal is worth Rs. 2,800 crore (US$380m), and with the 75% ownership acquired in October last year, implies an enterprise value of Rs. 13,675 crore (US$1.9bn).

Krishnapatnam Port is an all-weather, deep water port has multi-cargo facility with a current capacity of 64m tonnes per annum.

It is located on the east coast of India in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh state, around 180 km from the Port of Chennai and close to the border between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu state.

Karan Adani, CEO and whole time director of APSEZ said, “The consolidation of our ownership in Krishnapatnam Port reinforces APSEZ’s stride towards 500m tonnes by 2025 and achieving our broader strategy of cargo parity between west and east coasts of India.

“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.”

With a waterfront of 20 km and 6,800 acres of land, Krishnapatnam Port has a master plan capacity of 300m tonnes annually and a 50-year concession.

The operator is confident that it can double throughput and triple EBITDA at Krishnapatnam Port by 2025.

In the 2021 financial year, the port is expected to have volumes of 38m tonnes, revenues of Rs. 1,840 crore (US$250m) and an EBITDA of Rs. 1,325 crore (US$180m).

Adani added: “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.”