Terminal Investment Ltd, a unit of Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A, the world’s biggest container shipping line, has acquired a 49 percent stake for Rs247 crores in a 8 lakh twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) capacity container terminal run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) in state-owned Kamarajar Port in Tamil Nadu, according to Infra.
The deal boosts MSC’s presence on India’s eastern coast after it bought Bollore Africa Logistics last year in a global transaction for 5.7 billion euros. Through the Bollore Africa Logistics buy, MSC gained a 49 percent stake in Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd, one of the two container terminals operating at State-owned V O Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOC Port), also in Tamil Nadu. This deal is awaiting security clearance from the Union government, per procedure framed for port contracts.
TIL’s acquisition of a 49 percent stake in Adani Ennore Container Terminal Pvt Ltd will also require security clearance from the Union government.
The transaction bolsters the strategic partnership between APSEZ and MSC which has an equal joint venture to run a container terminal named Adani International Container Terminal Pvt Ltd (AICTPL), at Mundra Port, India’s largest commercial port and the flagship of APSEZ, located in Gujarat.
Terminal Investment Ltd, through its fully owned subsidiary Mundi Ltd, will acquire a 49 percent stake in Adani Ennore Container Terminal Pvt Ltd from APSEZ for Rs 247 crore, pegging the enterprise value of the terminal at Rs 1,211 crore.
In 2014, APSEZ won the rights to build and operate a 1.4 million TEU-capacity container terminal for 30 years at Kamarajar Port Ltd (the only corporate port among the 12 owned by the Union government) after placing a revenue share of 37 percent.
Adani Ennore Container Terminal Pvt Ltd has a quay length of 400 meters and an annual handling capacity of 0.8 million TEUs. The terminal handled 0.55 million TEUs in FY23 and 0.45 million TEUs in the eight months of the current fiscal.