At a recent meeting with L&T Chairman AM Naik and Tata GroupÂ’s new Chairman Cyrus Mistry, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani finalised the deal to acquire Dhamra Port Company (DPCL) in Odisha, reports suggest.
During the meeting, the terms and conditions of the deal, which involves acquiring stakes of the construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Tata SteelÂ’s stakes in DPCL, was finalised.
It is learnt the value of the deal is pegged close to $1 billion (about Rs 5,500 crore). Adani, which operates IndiaÂ’s biggest private port at Mundra in Gujarat, will fund the deal from its own funds, the source added.
It is worth mentioning that the Adani group plans to acquire a port in the eastern India. Its bid for the Chennai port terminal was rejected on security grounds.
Infrastructure Development Projects (IDPL), which is a subsidiary of L&T, owns 50 per cent in DPCL.
The port has been developed under the build-own-operate-share and transfer model with a concession from Odisha government for 34 years. The port, which commenced operations in May 2011 handled 5.1 million tonne of cargo during that year. The portÂ’s location makes it ideal for shipment of minerals and raw material for steel plants in the region.
For Tata Steel, which is reeling under Rs 53,432 crore of consolidated debt as on September 2012, any disinvestment in assets will help it raise funds and retire its high-cost debt.
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