Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said it is set to get funding from Warburg Pincus, a couple of days after APSEZ announced it would buy out the New York-based private equity firm from a port.
Warburg Pincus will invest Rs 800 crore (about $110 million) for a 0.49% stake, according to a filing. The board of APSEZ has approved the issuance of shares.
With the investment, Warburg will join others in backing the company such as LIC, Temasek, Fidelity, GIC and Norges, said Karan Adani, chief executive of APSEZ.
The ports and logistics company will hold an extraordinary general meeting on April 6 to seek approval for the issue from shareholders.
APSEZ, India’s largest private port operator, last week said it will buy out the New York-based private equity firm from Gangavaram Port for Rs 1,954 crore (around $268 million).
Adani is also in discussions to buy DVS Raju & Family’s 58.1% stake in the port near Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam Port.
In February, APSEZ completed the acquisition of Dighi Port for Rs 650 crore under the bankruptcy law.
APSEZ boasts a large network of ports with India’s largest SEZ at Mundra. It owns and operates 12 ports and terminals in India and has a pan-India logistics presence.
Adani’s acquisitions
Billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, via various units, has made a number of acquisitions in the energy, ports, logistics and other sectors over the past few years.
But in December, the Odisha government scuttled the plans of Adani Power to acquire a 49% stake in Odisha Power Generation Corp from New York-listed AES Corp.
Earlier in 2020, APSEZ announced its decision to acquire a 75% stake in Andhra Pradesh-based Krishnapatnam Port Company for an enterprise value of Rs 13,572 crore ($1.9 billion).
In December 2019, the Adani-controlled port firm agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Mumbai-listed Snowman Logistics Ltd from Gateway Distriparks Ltd for about Rs 296 crore.
APSEZ has continued to expand at a rapid pace to consolidate its position as India’s biggest private-sector port operator.
Before Krishnapatnam, it had acquired Dhamra Port in Odisha in 2014 and Kattupalli Port in Tamil Nadu in 2018.
In 2019, the Adani group snapped up GMR Chhattisgarh Energy’s 1,370 megawatt plant for an enterprise value of Rs 4,792 crore outside the insolvency process, and months after the group won the rights to run six airports across the country.
In December 2019, the Adani-controlled port firm agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Mumbai-listed Snowman Logistics Ltd from Gateway Distriparks Ltd for about Rs 296 crore.
However, this could not be executed entirely: In July last year, Adani Logistics, the wholly-owned subsidiary of APSEZ, acquired 26% as part of the open offer settlement and kept the proposal to buy 40.25% from the promoters on hold.
Between November and December, Adani was reported to have sold a majority of the acquired stake in the open market.
Between February 10 and March 4, Adani Logistics offloaded its entire remaining stake of 1.79% in the cold-storage operator, as per the latest disclosure.
Source: VCCIRCLE
