Adani Group in race to buy 23.5% in Mumbai Airport

MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: The Adani Group has made a formal offer to buy out the 23.5% held by two South African firms in Mumbai airport, setting the stage for a battle with the GVK Group which has also shown interest in increasing its stake.

The Adani Group has sought to buy the stakes of Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and Bidvest, the joint venture partners of GVK in the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), at a valuation of Rs 9,500 crore, people aware of the situation said.

With an offer on the table, the South Africans — believed to be keen on exiting the venture — have invoked the right of first refusal (RoFR) clause, forcing the cash-strapped Hyderabad-headquartered infrastructure conglomerate to scurry for funds to ward off what is now being perceived as a smart corporate move by the Adanis to take a large chunk of the country’s second-busiest airport. As per the agreement, the invocation can happen only once. GVK has time till February-end to comply or face a  ..

VALUATION LOWER THAN EXPECTATION

Bidvest’s holdings have been valued at Rs 1,248.75 crore, or Rs 77 per share, according to documents seen by ET. At this rate, MIAL is valued at about Rs 9,500 crore, lower than the promoter group’s expectation. Bidvest has written to GVK and ACSA, with a copy marked to AAI, asking the two partners to match the offer within a month, according to the letter dated January 26, 2019. ET was first to report the developments on February 1.





People close to GVK said that it has received stake sale proposal from both the partners in the consortium and the RoFR clause gives GVK group a chance to match the offer.

“The GVK group will match the offer and buy the 23.5% stake in the company. We will not let the stake in the company go to anyone else,” said one of them, who did not want to be identified.

Bidvest launched an official stake sale process last year by roping in investment bank Rothschild. At the same time, GVK promoters, raising emergency funds may be the only option and that is exceedingly tough considering their leverage. The tepid response of the three investors for the holding company has made matters worse.

At this valuation, they may end up losing control. The Reddys are already fully pledged and Adanis saw a great opportunity as they are upping their game in infrastructure,” said an official directly involved in the process.

Adani Group has presence in ports and real estate and is expanding into roads, waterways and airports. Adani Transmission has acquired Reliance Infrastructure’s Mumbai power distribution business for Rs 18,000 crore. The group has also bid for six airport projects — Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Mangalore, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow — and is confident of winning big. Bids are to open on Monday.

Another group company, Adani Infra, is one of the two shortlisted firms for the  .. 

0 Comments