Corporate Grapevine     

Published: April 30, 2025
Updated: April 30, 2025

Aussie port: Bought and sold by Adani!

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), India’s largest private port operator, is broadening its international reach by buying full ownership of the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT), a coal facility in Australia owned by the Adani family. The company will issue new equity shares to the terminal’s owners — who, like APSEZ itself, are part of the Adani promoter group.

The deal will lift the share of APSEZ’s EBITDA generated outside India to 10% from 4% today, while nudging up coal’s share of its cargo mix by about three to four percentage points. NQXT, with an annual throughput of 35m tonnes, handles exclusively coal, split into 55% metallurgical and 45% ther mal. Even so, analysts expects coal’s importance to diminish over time as container and other cargo volumes grow more briskly.

Financially, APSEZ’s profile is set to remain largely unchanged. Rating firm Fitch forecasts gross leverage to hold steady at around three times EBITDA through the financial year ending March 2029. Nor will the acquisition dis rupt NQXT’s operations: APSEZ already runs the terminal, where capacity utilisation is a comfortable 70% and medium-term capital expenditure needs are minimal. Any investments can be recouped through user charges, pro vided customers agree.

NQXT’s appeal lies partly in its stability. It enjoys medium-term take-or pay contracts, an 85-year lease, and no debt maturities until 2030. Protective covenants further limit refinancing risks. Yet, despite these comforts, the terminal’s contribution to the group’s overall cash flows will be modest.