Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said on Friday it will buy a majority stake in an offshore support vessel operator for $185 million, expanding its fleet and diversifying beyond port operations.

Astro Offshore, in which Adani Ports will buy an 80% stake, owns a fleet of 26 vessels including barges and workboats, counting miner NMDC and construction bellwether Larsen and Toubro as its customers.

“Astro will add… to our current fleet of 142 tugs and dredgers… (and) the acquisition will also give us access to an impressive roster of tier-1 customers,” Adani Ports CEO Ashwani Gupta said in a statement.

The deal comes as India’s largest private port operator aims to grow its presence beyond its mainstay port operations to maintain its sector lead against smaller rivals JSW Infrastructure and Gujarat Pipavav .

The acquisition is expected to close within a month with no requirement of regulatory approvals, Adani Ports added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

Thiruvananthapuram:

Adani Group’s Vizhinjam Port, India’s first trans-shipment port near Kovalam Beach in Kerala, received its first mothership.

‘San Fernando’, a vessel of the world’s second-largest shipping company Maersk, arrived at the port country with over 2,000 containers on it, thus creating history.

The giant ship was given the traditional water salute following which she berthed successfully.

With the arrival of the first mother ship, Adani Group’s Vizhinjam Port has catapulted India into the world port business as globally this port will rank 6th or 7th.

Those present to receive the mothership included State Ports Minister V.N. Vasavan, officials from the Adani Port and senior state government officials.

The official function will take place on Friday. It will be attended by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ) Managing Director Karan Adani.

Soon after the official inauguration, the mothership will move to its next destination at Colombo and after that many more ships are scheduled to arrive with cargo.

Friday will mark the official completion of the first phase of the port, which has a 3,000-metre breakwater and 800-metre container berth ready.

Of the 32 cranes required, all but one have come. A 1.7 km approach road for connectivity is almost complete, while the office building, security area and electric lines are all ready.

Another feature of this port is that it is the first semi-automated container terminal in the country and will also be a global bunkering hub, supplying clean and green fuels like hydrogen and ammonia. Full-fledged commercial operations in the port are slated to begin in a few months.

The second and third phase of the project is planned to be completed in 2028 and will be one of the greenest ports in the world.

The port is also strategically located as it is just 10 nautical miles from the International Shipping Route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Far East.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Logo of the Adani Group installed at a roundabout on the ring road in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. FILE
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Shares of all Adani Group companies tumbled on Tuesday as the initial trend showed BJP winning a lesser number of seats than predicted in exit polls.

The stock of Adani Ports plummeted 20 per cent, Adani Energy Solutions plunged 19.80 per cent, Adani Power slumped 19.76 per cent, Ambuja Cements tumbled 19.20 per cent and the group’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises tanked 19.13 per cent on the BSE.

Erasing the record-rally of the previous trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 4,131.44 points or 5.40 per cent to 72,337.34, and the Nifty slumped 1,263.3 points or 5.43 per cent to 22,000.60.

Shares of all Adani Group companies rallied sharply on Monday, with Adani Power surging nearly 16 per cent in line with a massive surge in the equity market, taking the combined market valuation of the ten listed firms to Rs 19.42 lakh crore.

The stock of the majority of the group firms, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Power and Adani Green, also bounced back to their pre-Hindenburg Research report levels on Monday.

The BJP-led NDA was ahead with leads in 296 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc not far behind in 227 seats as votes were counted for the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, setting the course for a third consecutive term as prime minister for Narendra Modi but with a stronger opposition.

While the BJP was ahead in 236 of 542 seats, the Congress had leads in 97, signalling a dip for the ruling party from the 303 score in 2019 and a spike for the opposition party’s 52 from the last election. An election marked by acridity and acrimony could end with the treasury benches in reduced numbers and an opposition with more teeth.

ALSO READ:Adani Group’s FY24 net jumps 55%; mulls $90-billion capex

In trends available till 11.45 am, the NDA was close to the 300 mark, comfortably over the magic figure of 272 with the opposition INDIA bloc making significant gains.

Shares of all group companies surged on Friday by up to 14 per cent after US brokerage Jefferies put a bullish view on the group that is back to an expansion spree with a planned USD 90 billion capital expenditure over the next decade.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) signed a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanzania Ports Authority to operate and manage Container Terminal 2 at the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Friday said its wholly owned subsidiary Adani International Ports Holdings Pte Ltd (AIPH) has signed a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanzania Ports Authority to operate and manage Container Terminal 2 at the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania.

The Dar es Salaam Port is a gateway port with a well-connected network of roadways and railways, APSEZ said in a statement.

East Africa Gateway Ltd (EAGL) has been incorporated as a joint venture of AIPH, AD Ports Group, and East Harbour Terminals Ltd (EHTL), the statement added.

APSEZ will be the controlling shareholder and will consolidate EAGL on its books, it said.

According to the statement, Container Terminal 2, with four berths, has an annual cargo handling capacity of 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and managed 0.82 million TEUs of containers in 2023 — about 83% of Tanzania’s total container volumes.

Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. runs the Haifa Port in north Israel. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. which runs the Haifa Port in Israel, said it is closely monitoring the action on ground which is concentrated in south Israel, whereas Haifa port is situated in the north.

“We have taken measures to ensure safety of our employees and all of them are safe. We remain fully alert and prepared with a business continuity plan that will enable us to respond effectively to any eventuality,” a spokesperson of the company said in a statement.

“The overall contribution of Haifa in APSEZ’s numbers is relatively small at 3% of the total cargo volume. For the current financial year [Apr 23-Mar 24], we have guided for Haifa Cargo volumes range of 10-12 MMT and APSEZ’s total cargo volume guidance of 370-390 MMT,” the statement said.

“In the initial six months [Apr-Sep 23], APSEZ’s total cargo volume was ~203 MMT, of which the Haifa share is ~6 MMT. We stay confident of APSEZs business performance,” it added.

In a stock exchange filing, APSEZ said it will buy back $195 million of bonds due in 2024 using its cash reserves. File photo of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will prepay $195 million of debt due in 2024 as the conglomerate helmed by Gautam Adani looks to boost investors’ confidence post being targeted by a US short-seller.

In a stock exchange filing, APSEZ said it will buy back $195 million of bonds due in 2024 using its cash reserves.

Out of the $520 million principal outstanding, $325 million will be left after the buyback, it said.

The company board “has approved tranche II of the tender offer to purchase for cash up to $195 million in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 3.375 per cent senior notes due 2024 which represents 30 per cent of the principal amount of the notes,” it said.

In May, the company had bought back its July 2024 bonds for cash $130 million in aggregate of the principal amount and stated that it would buy back 20% of the principal amount of the bonds in each of the next four quarters.

In the second tranche of this, the company is now proposing to purchase up to $195 million of bonds. This represents 30% of the principal amount of the bonds ($650 million). After $130 million buyback in May, $520 million remained outstanding.

The buyback tender is open till October 26, the filing said.

Adani Group has been attempting to rebuild investors’ confidence since Hindenburg Research in a January 24 report accused it of accounting fraud and improper use of offshore tax havens for stock manipulation.

The group has denied all allegations.

The company has engaged Barclays Bank, DBS Bank, Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, Mizuho Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd, MUFG Securities Asia Singapore Branch, SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong) and Standard Chartered Bank to serve as deal managers for the offer.

The company will pay accrued interest, in respect of any notes purchased in the tender offer.