Adani Ports acquires remaining 10.4% in Gangavaram port

“The boards of APSEZ and GPL have also approved the merger of GPL with APSEZ taking into consideration GPL’s valuation of Rs 120 per share and fair value of APSEZ at Rs 754.8 per share, resulting in a swap ratio of 159 shares in APSEZ for 1,000 shares in GPL for 58.1% stake held by DVS Raju and Family in GPL. The merger, which has an appointed date of 1 April 2021 and is subject to NCLT approvals, is expected to conclude by 31 March 2022,” it said in a statement.

Earlier, in April 2021, APSEZ had acquired 31.5% from Windy Lakeside Investment Ltd, a Warburg Pincus affiliate, and had signed an agreement for controlling stake of 58.1% held by DVS Raju and Family. Post the merger of GPL and APSEZ, DVS Raju and family will receive approx. 480 million shares resulting in 2.2% stake in APSEZ worth Rs 3,604 crore.

“GPL is debt-free with strong growth potential as part of the APSEZ portfolio. Transaction has been completed at an equity value of Rs 6,200 crore and implies an EV/ FY21 EBTIDA multiple of 8.8x and results in EPS accretion of 7% to APSEZ FY 21 earnings,” it said in the statement.

GPL is a 64 MMT capacity non-major port established under concession from the AP government that extends till 2059 and is the gateway port for a hinterland spread over 8 states across Eastern, Western, Southern and Central India.

As a deep draft modern multipurpose port capable of handling fully laden Super Cape size vessels of up to 200,000 DWT, GPL handles a mix of dry and bulk commodities.

In FY21, GPL had a cargo volume of 32.8 million metric tons, revenue of Rs 1,057 crore and EBITDA of Rs 625 crore and profit after tax of Rs 494 crore. In Q1 FY22, GPL handled 8.7 MMT of cargo and reported revenue of Rs 313 crore, EBITDA of Rs 215 crore and post-tax profit of Rs 192 crore. With several operational initiatives underway, GPL is all set to continue its strong growth and margin expansion.