Indian private-sector ports operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will buy a stake in storage facility firm Indian Oiltanking (IOTL), in a move that will triple APSEZ's total oil storage capacity.
IOTL is a joint venture between state-controlled refiner IOC and Oiltanking India – the Indian subsidiary of German storage logistics provider Oiltanking. APSEZ signed agreements with Oiltanking India and Oiltanking to acquire the former's 49.38pc stake in IOTL and the latter's 10pc stake in Indian infrastructure firm IOT Utkal Energy Services for 10.5bn rupees ($128.5mn).
The acquisitions will raise APSEZ's total oil storage capacity by 200pc to 3.6mn kilolitres (22.6mn bl), making it India's largest third-party liquid storage company, the firm's chief executive officer Karan Adani said on 9 November. The acquisition is likely to be completed within two months.
APSEZ aims to diversity its product mix with the acquisitions and focus on products and services with higher margins, Adani added.
IOTL — which provides liquid tank terminal services — and its subsidiaries have a network of terminals in Navghar in Maharashtra state, Paradip in Odisha, Raipur in Chhattisgarh, IOC's Jawaharlal Nehru (JNPT), in Goa and in Gujarat's Dumad with a total capacity of 13.2mn bl for tank storage and handling of crude and oil products, APSEZ said. IOTL also has a biogas production capacity of 15 t/d.
