AHMEDABAD : Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) is evaluating a potential bid for Associated British Ports (ABP), the United Kingdom’s largest port operator, as the Gautam Adani-led group looks to expand its international footprint, people aware of the development told Moneycontrol.
The discussions may not necessarily result in a formal offer, they added.
“As a matter of policy, we do not comment on market speculation or rumours. We continuously evaluate opportunities that align with our long-term strategy and create sustainable value for all stakeholders,” a spokesperson for APSEZ said in response to Moneycontrol’s queries.
ABP owns and operates 21 ports across England, Scotland and Wales, including those in Southampton and the Humber, and handles around a quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade.
Its operations span containers, automobiles, dry and liquid bulk cargo, cruise vessels and industrial real estate.
Canadian pension funds CPP Investments and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) own around 64 percent of ABP. A transaction could value ABP at more than £10 billion.
OMERS declined comment on Moneycontrol’s queries. Emails sent to CPPIB and Associated British Ports had not elicited a response till the time of publication of this article.
A Bloomberg report in April said the proposed sale had attracted preliminary interest from global infrastructure investors and port operators, including KKR, BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Brookfield Asset Management and Dubai-based DP World. The process was still at an early stage and no formal bids had been submitted, it said.
ABP acquisition would be Adani Ports’ biggest overseas transaction and give the company a substantial operating platform in one of Europe’s largest trading economies.
APSEZ has steadily expanded beyond India in recent years. Its most prominent international acquisition is Israel’s Haifa Port, bought in partnership with Gadot Group for around $1.18 billion. Adani Ports owns 70 percent of the venture.
The company has also commenced operations at the Colombo West International Terminal in Sri Lanka and Container Terminal 2 at Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Its international portfolio also includes the North Queensland Export Terminal in Australia.
APSEZ is India’s largest private port operator, with a network of 15 ports and terminals and cargo-handling capacity of about 627 million tonnes per annum. Its portfolio includes Mundra, India’s largest commercial port, as well as Hazira, Dahej, Dhamra, Krishnapatnam, Gangavaram, Gopalpur, Kattupalli and Vizhinjam.
APSEZ handled a record 500 million tonnes of cargo in FY26 and aims to take it to one billion tonnes annually by 2030.
Source: Moneycontrol
