CCI Gives Go Ahead To Acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone
By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated July 23, 2020
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ). The transaction involves the acquisition of equity shareholding and management control.
The Krishnapatnam Port plays an important role in the development of trade in Andhra Pradesh. It has the capacity to handle 70 million tons of cargo a year. This is APSEZ’s biggest acquisition in India’s port sector in terms of value and size, and helps it build scale in an industry that is dominated by the 12 state-owned ports. Krishnapatnam Port will give APSEZ access to India’s largest waterfront area of 12.5 km and a transit storage area of 6,800 acres.
Located about 180 km north of Chennai, the port started operations in 2008. In February 2009, London-based private equity firm 3i Group Plc invested $161 million in it. Now that APSEZ has acquired Krishnapatnam Port, 3i has an exit route for its investment over which it was in tussle with the CVR Group for quite some time.
Krishnapatnam Port is APSEZ’s third acquisition on the eastern coast after the purchase of Dhamra port in 2014 and Kattupalli port in 2016. Adani Ports is a customer-facing integrated port infrastructure services provider currently present across 10 domestic ports in six maritime states of Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. It manages the logistics chain.
