ET Exclusive: Adani eyes controlling stake in UK's Associated British Ports

Mumbai: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), India's biggest private port operator, is weighing a bid for Associated British Ports (ABP), the largest operator of such facilities in the UK, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Tycoon Gautam Adani is looking to expand his port empire with the aim of becoming the world's biggest transport utility by 2031.

Up for grabs is a controlling stake of about 63.9%, which belongs to two Canadian pension funds, both of which have hired bankers to sell their stakes. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) holds 30% and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has 33.88% of ABP, which owns and operates 21 strategically located ports in England, Scotland and Whales.

These include Immingham, the UK's largest port by tonnage, and Southampton, the nation's number one export port, which handles £40 billion of the country's exports annually. ABP is also a partner for the offshore wind industry, providing operations and maintenance (O&M) for over 50% of the sector's activity.

"We continuously evaluate opportunities that align with our long-term strategy and create sustainable value for all stakeholders," a spokesperson for APSEZ said.

Pilotage Revenue Significant

“As a matter of policy, we do not comment on market speculation or rumours,” the spokesperson said.

ABP’s other shareholders include Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC (20%), Wren House Infrastructure owned by Kuwait Investment Authority (10%) and Anchorage Ports LLP, owned by asset manager Hermes Infrastructure Fund.

The ports run by ABP handle about a quarter of the country’s seaborne trade. In 2025, the 21 ports handled 42.5 million tonnes (MT) of bulk cargo and 3.1 million units of unitised cargo such as containers and roll-on, roll-off, generating revenue of £819.8 million with an operating profit of £586.5 million.

A substantial share of ABP’s revenue comes from customer contracts that generate a guaranteed level of revenue irrespective of traffic or volumes. ABP is the statutory harbour and river authority for most of its ports. Consequently, it earns significant revenue from pilotage and conservancy services, a focus area for APSEZ.

The Adani firm runs a network of 15 multi-commodity ports in India with a handling capacity of 653 million tonnes (mt) of cargo and four international ports at Haifa in Israel, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Colombo West International Terminal in Colombo and North Queensland Export Terminal in Australia that can handle 144 mt. In FY26, APSEZ handled 501 mt of cargo.

The port operator aims to expand cargo handling capacity to 1 billion tonnes by 2030, by when it hopes to handle 850 MT of cargo. It also plans to expand the marine services business by increasing its fleet of tugs and offshore support vessels to over 200 from 136 now.

APSEZ has said it plans to invest as much as Rs1 lakh crore over the next five years to expand capacity, of which Rs 63,000 crores have been earmarked for augmenting domestic ports business. The capex for international port expansion has been pegged at Rs7,000 crore, mainly for constructing phase 2 of the Colombo terminal.

Strategic mergers and acquisitions are not included in this capex.

While the port operator had cash and cash equivalents of Rs12,193 crore at the end of March, it has gross debt of Rs55,103 crore.