In a bid to thwart Adani Group’s attempt to gain a shareholding in the Mumbai airport, GVK Airport Holdings has acquired an additional 10 per cent in Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) for ₹924 crore. The shares have been acquired from Airports Co. South Africa (ACSA) Global Ltd.

GVK recently acquired 13.5 per cent stake in MIAL from another South African company Bid Services Division (Mauritius) Ltd (Bidvest). These deals take GVK’s share in Mumbai airport to 74 per cent from 50.5 per cent. While GVK did not say why it was increasing its stake in MIAL, it was earlier reported that the Adani group had also made an offer to acquire ACSA’s stake in Mumbai airport.

Under the agreement between GVK and the two South African entities Bidvest Group and ACSA Gobal, which held 13.5 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, the Indian company had the first right of refusal in case the joint venture partners wanted to sell the stake.

MIAL runs the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, in which GVK now owns a 74 per cent stake and the remaining equity is held by Airports Authority of India. GVK acquired the stake from ACSA at ₹77 per share.

Adani Group was eyeing Mumbai airport as it has big ambitions in this sector. Gautam Adani’s infrastructure conglomerate has entered the airports business by emerging the highest bidder for six non-metro airports being privatised by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Adani Enterprises bid aggressively to claim the top slot for the six airports: Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati and Mangaluru.

GVK, on the other hand, was looking to divest its stake in its airport holding company in a bid to reduce its overall debt.

According to market sources, GVK could still go ahead with the stake sale but may prefer a foreign strategic investor instead of an Indian conglomerate. In addition to paying off its debt, GVK also needs fresh funds for the development of the Navi Mumbai airport project.

 

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW