A consortium of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) and Israel’s Gadot Group has won the tender to privatise the Port of Haifa, the second-largest port in Israel, according to an official release on Friday.
The Adani-Gadot consortium has secured the rights to buy 100 per cent shares of Haifa Port Company (HPC) after the winning bid. The concession period of the Port of Haifa remains up to 2054.
HPC, for which APSEZ and Gadot made their successful bid, operates the Port of Haifa, one of the two biggest commercial ports in Israel. It handles nearly half of Israel’s container cargo and is also the country’s principal port for passenger traffic and cruise ships.
The consortium of APSEZ and Gadot Group was formed with their respective shares of 70 per cent and 30 per cent. The consortium’s offer was NIS 4.1 billion, which is equivalent to $1.18 billion.
Karan Adani, wholetime director and CEO, APSEZ, said, “Needless to say, we are delighted to win the privatisation tender of the Port of Haifa and this is one of the many steps we are taking to transform APSEZ into a global transport utility that will include logistics and warehousing.”
“This win is strategic for us from several dimensions. It gives us a much larger presence in Israel, one of India’s most strategic partners, with whom the Adani Group has been working for six long years to build a network of relationships across several industries. In the short term, we look forward to developing strategic trade lanes between our ports in India and Haifa and help facilitate trade between the two countries, diversifying the port cargo as well as leveraging our expertise to increase the operational efficiencies,” added Karan Adani.
On the other hand, Opher Linchevski, CEO of Gadot, said, “Our partnership with Adani blends the best of two worlds – our expertise in handling cargo in Haifa Port and Adani’s world class capability in managing port operations.”
“The length of the lease and the growth that we anticipate in the Israel economy as well as the surrounding regions means we are well positioned to invest to build one of the best ports in this region,” Linchevski said.
With the acquisition of the Port of Haifa, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd will expand its footprint into the European port sector, which includes the lucrative Mediterranean region.
The Port of Haifa is located towards the north of Israel. It is close to the city of Haifa, the third largest city in Israel. It is also one of the major industrial areas of Israel. Haifa Port is operated by the Haifa Port Company Ltd, which also has real estate available for the development of office spaces, hotels, tourism and other recreational activities.
Some salient features of Haifa Port
- Located towards the north of Israel, adjacent to the city of Haifa and about 90 km away from Tel Aviv, the key commercial city of Israel.
- The existing infrastructure at Haifa Port includes two container terminals and two multi-cargo terminals.
- The total developed quay length measures more than 2,900 metres.
- The maximum draft available ranges from 11 metres to 16.5 metres.
- Haifa Port has a Roll-on Roll-off (RORO), a cruise terminal with various passenger facilities and a waterfront length of 2 km for development.
- During 2021, HPC handled 1.46 Mn TEUs of containers, 2.56 million tonne of general and bulk cargo.