Billionaire Gautam Adani’s port unit will buy an 80 per cent stake in Singapore-headquartered Astro, a supplier of offshore support vessels, for $185 million in cash as his conglomerate continues to tap overseas opportunities.
“Astro will add to our current fleet of 142 tugs and dredgers, taking the total count to 168,” Ashwani Gupta, chief executive officer at Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. said in a statement Friday.
“The acquisition will also give us access to an impressive roster of Tier-1 customers.”
Astro, an operator in the Middle East, India, Far East Asia and Africa, owns a fleet of 26 offshore support vehicles comprising of anchor handling tugs, flat top barges, multipurpose support vessels and work boats that provide services for oil drilling activities.
During the year ended April 30, Astro posted $95 million in revenue and $41 million in earnings, before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, according to an Adani Ports’ statement. The deal is expected to be value accretive from the first year, the company said.
Adani Ports operates 15 ports and terminals in India representing 27 per cent of port volumes and developing terminals in Sri Lanka, Israel and Tanzania. It is also planning to build a port in Vietnam and is seeking at opportunities in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, East Africa, Bangladesh, Maldives and Cambodia.
