GOPALPUR: In a significant development, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), on Tuesday, announced the acquisition of brownfield Gopalpur Port from the Shapoorji Pallonji Group for an enterprise value of Rs. 3,350 crore.
The move to offload the Gopalpur Port is part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group's deleveraging strategy with planned asset monetization.
It is to be noted that the SP Group acquired the under-construction Gopalpur Port situated in Odisha back in 2017.
In a statement, the SP Group, a diversified construction and infrastructure, real estate, and energy conglomerate, informed that the Gopalpur Port currently has the capacity to handle 20 MTPA.
It further revealed that the port had recently inked a deal with Petronet LNG for setting up a greenfield LNG regasification terminal, generating predictable long-term cash flows for the port.
Notably, the conglomerate's decision to sell the Gopalpur Port happens to be the second port divestment in the last few months from the SP Group.
Prior to this offload, the SP Group had divested its Dharamtar Port in Maharashtra to JSW Infrastructure Ltd for an enterprise value of Rs. 710 crore.
Meanwhile, the Dharamtar Port had been acquired by the SP Group back in 2015. After its acquisition, the efficiency of the port operations improved exponentially, increasing capacity from less than 1 MTPA, when it took over to an expected capacity to handle 5 MTPA in FY24.
"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," a Shapoorji Pallonji Group spokesperson said.
"These divestments are key milestones in our roadmap to reduce group debt and set the stage for growth, taking advantage of the macro trends for demand in our core businesses, both in India and overseas," the spokesperson further said.
The SP has been trying to figure out several ways to reduce its debt, which has been reported to be around Rs. 20,000 crore.
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