On 3 Rd April 2023, the NCLT Chennai bench approved the resolution plan of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones(APSEZ) acquisition of Karaikal Port Private Limited(KPPL) for a consideration of 1,485 crores INR. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 resolution process APSEZ was a well-recognized pursuant, after the December Conference of the board APSEZ’s offer was sent to the NCLT for approval. Karaikal Port is an all-weather deep water port near the Karaikal district of Puducherry, with an impressive strategic location in the industrial belt of Tamil Nadu. The port handled around 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cargo in the fiscal year of 2022-23 and the acquisition cost of 14.85 billion rupees is around 8x of EV/EBITDA multiple of FY 2023. Mr. Karan Adani, CEO, and Whole-time Director, APSEZ said, “The acquisition of Karaikal Port is another milestone in consolidating our position as India’s largest transport utility. With the acquisition of Karaikal port APSEZ now operates 14 ports in India APSEZ will spend further INR 850 crores over time to upgrade infrastructure to reduce the logistics cost for the customers. We are envisaging to double the capacity of the port in the next 5 years and also add a container terminal to make it a multipurpose port.” This acquisition will benefit the Shipping and logistics industry and grant major access to the eastern zone to APSEZ operation is believed to multiply the working figure of the port in the upcoming days.
By Swarnabh Saha ,St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata ,Sem – 6 Bcom- LLB( H)
