Adani to sell Australian terminal to his port firm in stock deal

[MUMBAI] Billionaire Gautam Adani will transfer ownership of an Australian terminal to his listed company at an enterprise value of about US$2.5 billion as India’s largest port operator seeks to expand its global footprint.

The board of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone on Thursday (Apr 17) approved the acquisition of Abbot Point Port Holdings from Carmichael Rail and Port Singapore Holdings by issuing 143.8 million shares. Abbot holds the entities which own and operate the North Queensland Export Terminal, or NQXT.

The deal will help Adani Ports achieve an annual capacity target of one billion tonnes by 2030, the company said.

“NQXT’s acquisition is a pivotal step in our international strategy, opening new export markets and securing long term contracts,” Ashwani Gupta, chief executive officer at Adani Ports said. “We are targeting operating profit growing to A$400 million (S$335 million) in four years.”

The announcement confirmed an earlier report by Bloomberg News.

Adani Ports over the last two years has been seeking to dominate maritime routes where Indian trade is expected to increase. The latest purchase would be the fourth international port asset for the Adani group after Haifa in Israel, Colombo in Sri Lanka and the Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

Situated within the Port of Abbot Point, about 25 kilometres north of the town of Bowen on Queensland’s east coast, the deep-water coal terminal has a nameplate capacity of 50 million tonnes per year. More than 30 million tonnes of thermal and metallurgical coal are exported annually through the terminal, which is owned by the Queensland government and leased by North Queensland Export Terminal under a 99-year leasehold.

North Queensland Export Terminal is part of the Adani Group operating under the Bravus banner in Australia. BLOOMBERG