Hapag-Lloyd has agreed to buy a 35% stake in a growing Indian terminal operator from a US private equity outfit.
The German liner company will buy the stake in J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd (JMBPL) from a Bain Capital Private Equity affiliate. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Hapag-Lloyd has also signed a binding agreement with JMBPL and its promoters, the Kotak family, to subscribe to a capital increase by the company and raise its shareholding to 40%.
JMBPL describes itself as a “leading private terminal and inland transport service provider in India”.
Its operations comprise container terminals, a multipurpose terminal, inland container depots, container freight stations and additional logistics activities, such as rail service offerings across India.
JMBPL handles a combined container volume of around 1.6m teu and recently won additional concessions for operating container terminals in Nhava Sheva and Tuticorin.
Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen said terminal and infrastructure investments are a crucial element of the company’s strategic agenda and India is one of its key growth markets.
“Acquiring a significant share in J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd will significantly boost our presence in India ... and it is another important step to build up our terminal and infrastructure business,” he said.
Hapag-Lloyd said it has “continuously expanded” its involvement in the terminal sector, most recently through an agreement to acquire the terminal business of Chile-based SM SAAM.
The company also has stakes in Italy-based Spinelli Group, the JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven, the Container Terminal Altenwerder in Hamburg, Terminal TC3 in Tangier, and Terminal 2 in Damietta, Egypt, which is currently under construction.
The closing of the transactions is said to be subject to approval by the relevant authorities and to additional conditions customary for a transaction of this kind.
