Adani moves HC to stop Bidvest from selling stake in Mumbai Int’l Airport

The Bombay High Court has allowed the lawyers of Adani Properties time to seek direction from the company about the next course of action. Adani Properties has approached the court to restrain Bidvest from selling its stake in Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) to a third party.

The Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Properties has approached the court, seeking its direction to buy out minority stake of around 13.5% held by South Africa’s Bidvest Group. “We have a binding agreement with the Bidvest that is sacrosanct and we are seeking the court’s injunction to the minority investor of MIAL to transfer its shares to any third party,” argued Vikram Nankani, a senior counsel who appeared for Adani Properties. “Under the agreement, they (Bidvest) have agreed to sell its stake for Rs 1,235 crore to us.”

Currently, two South African investors in MIAL — Bidvest Services Division (Mauritius) and ACSA — are looking to exit. Their combined 23.5% holding is at the centre of a dispute between the GVK Group and the Adani Group. GVK owns around 50.5%, while the Airports Authority of India owns remaining stake.