Adani Ports to buy 95% of Odisha's Gopalpur Port for $162 million: What we know so far on the deal

Adani Ports will purchase a 56% stake in Gopalpur Port from real-estate conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

Adani Ports said that it will buy a 95% stake in Odisha's Gopalpur Port for an equity value of 13.49 billion rupees ($161.74 million). As per the deal- whose enterprise value is ₹30.80 billion, Adani Ports will purchase a 56% stake in Gopalpur Port from real-estate conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) and a 39% stake from Orissa Stevedores.

Chairperson of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, Gautam Adani, speaks at the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai.(AFP)

What Adani Ports has said on the deal?

Karan Adani, managing director at Adani Ports, said, “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.”

The port handles dry bulk cargo, including iron ore, coal, limestone, ilmenite, and alumina. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) operates about 12 ports and terminals on the west and east coast of India.

What Shapoorji Pallonji Group said on the sale?

Shapoorji Pallonji Group announced the sale of Gopalpur Port to Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd marking the second port divestment in the last few months from the real estate conglomerate which had earlier sold its Dharamtar Port to JSW Infrastructure Limited for ₹710 crore. The Gopalpur Port in Odisha was acquired in 2017 and the Shapoorji Pallonji Group started port operations after constructing the port's infrastructure and establishing ties, it said. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group was advised by Deutsche Bank on the deal.

The post can now handle 20 million tonnes of freight every year, it added.

A spokesperson for the company said, as per Moneycontrol, “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."