Adani family consolidates stake in Australian port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has decided to divest almost the entire 100 per cent stake in entities controlling the Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Queensland, Australia to the Adani family, the company said Monday.

"Apart from about 1,000 (Australian) dollars worth of equity shares, we will be divesting 99.9 per cent stake in Abbot Point to the promoters of Adani Group," B Ravi, chief financial officer, APSEZ told The Indian Express.

APSEZ currently holds 100 per cent stake in Abbot Point. The company in May 2011 had announced signing of a sale and purchase agreement of Abbot Point Coal Terminal for about Rs 9,000 crore following international competitive bidding process conducted by the state of Queensland in Australia.

This decision to divest stake has been taken by the company's board to help "focus on the high growth in Indian ports and logistics sector and maintain its leadership position in India," stated APSEZ in a filing to the BSE.

The valuation of the stake will be determined by an independent valuer, the company said. "This divestment will further enhance the financial strength of APSEZ in order to pursue its plans to acquire or set up new ports & logistics assets in India," it added.

In a similar move last year, the Adani family had decided to take over the real-estate business after the flag-ship company of the group —Adani Enterprises Ltd, decided to divest its holding in the real-estate business. "Both these cases have similarities," Ravi added.

Meanwhile, APSEZ continues to be the second largest commercial port of India both in total cargo as well as in terms of container volumes, the company stated in a release.
Courtesy:
Express news service : Ahmedabad, Tue Jan 29 2013, 01:10 hrs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/adani-family-consolidates-stake-in-australian-port/1066010/0

Gujrat : Adani Power Scam : Modi sops to pvt cos cost Guj over 20k cr: Kejriwal

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday targeted Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, accusing him of giving away thousands of crores in land, gas and coal blocks to private companies at throwaway prices.

In their sixth “expose’’, Kejriwal and Bhushan said Modi had favoured Gujaratbased business house Adani Group on power purchase and land allotment besides giving gas fields worth Rs 20,000 crore to private companies — Jubilant Energy and Geo Global — for ‘free’, adding that their disclosures were evidence that the rivalry between Congress and BJP was a pretence and that the two parties were actually “business partners’’ in private.

Questioning Modi's credentials as '’vikas purush’ and claims about his honesty, the duo levelled a series of charges against the chief minister, targeting him for allegedly allowing Adanis to “walk away” with coal blocks without supplying power at cheap rates as per agreement.

Questioning the shortlisting process, Kejriwal said Geo Global, owned by Jean Paul Roy, was incorporated just six days before the agreement with GSPC and was expected to provide technical assistance. Not only did Geo Global admit to Securities and Exchange Commission in the US that it did not have the requisite expertise but the agreement gave the company gas fields free of cost.

A similar agreement by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance with British Petroleum ended in the latter paying Reliance an amount of $7.3 billion (Rs 35,000 crore) to acquire 30% stake and to provide technical assistance.

BJP dismissed the charge as “motivated and mischievous”, with sources pointing to their old theory that Kejriwal-Bhushan had been attacking BJP figures only to fend off the perception of being biased against Congress.

Jubilant Energy (a subsidiary of Jubilant Enpro) rejected the allegation that it was favoured by Modi.

The Adani group too dismissed the allegations.

Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2012/12/05&PageLabel=13&EntityId=Ar01301&ViewMode=HTML