Adani Group Acquires 23.5% Stake from Foreign Investors in Mumbai Airport

The Adani Group has finished the acquisition of 23.5 per cent stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from South African entities Bidvest and Airport Company of South Africa for ₹1,685 crores.  

Adani Enterprises said in a stock exchange notification that it has taken over 13.5 per cent of MIAL’s stake from Bidvest and 10 per cent from Airport Company of South Africa, thus paving the way to have majority control in one of the busiest airports in the country. This officially marks the exit of foreign investors from Mumbai Airport. 

In August 2020, the Adani Group had reached an agreement with the GVK Group to take over 50.5 per cent stake in the airport. Notably, this deal also included the aforementioned 23.5 per cent stake from South African investors. 

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The deal will also see Adani taking over Rs 2,500 crores of debt owed by GVK Airport Developers which was a holding company of MIAL. As per the terms, Adani is slated to receive a controlling stake in MIAL when the debt is converted into equity. 

Though the takeover of GVK’s stake is yet to receive some government approvals, the AAI recently provided its green signal for the acquisition.

Read - AAI Approves Adani's Share Transfer Proposal For CSMIA

This comes after a brief legal tussle between GVK Group and Adani in 2019 as the former tried to block Adani Group’s presence in the deal. In October 2019, GVK announced the sale of 79 per cent of its stake in the airport to a group of foreign investors for Rs 7,614 crores. However, this deal didn’t go through and was eventually called off.  

However, GVK had to agree to sell its stake to the Adani Group following pressure from its lenders. To add to GVK’s woes, a money-laundering investigation initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made fundraising a herculean task.  

It’s worth pointing out that the Adani Group has so far taken over six airports run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as part of a new privatisation plan. These airports include Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. 

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