AN/NS India completes Rs 16,500 crore acquisition of port and power assets from Essar Group

Mumbai: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) – a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, two of the world’s leading steelmakers – has concluded a transaction to acquire two port assets and a power plant from the Essar Group for a net value of approximately Rs 16,500 crore having received requisite corporate and regulatory approvals.

This transaction, fully funded by AM/NS India, follows an August 2022 agreement with Essar to acquire several power and infrastructure assets that are either captive or allied to AM/NS India’s operations and will strengthen the strategic integration of the company’s manufacturing and logistics chain.

The following cash generating assets are now wholly owned and operated by AM/NS India and are expected to generate operational synergies for the company immediately:

• A 25 MTPA jetty at the all-weather, deep draft bulk port terminal at Hazira, Gujarat, captive and adjacent to AM/NS India’s flagship steel plant.
• A 12 MTPA deep-water jetty at Paradip, Odisha along with a dedicated conveyor that handles 100% of pellet shipments from AM/NS India’s Paradip pellet plant.
• A 270 MW multi-fuel power plant at Hazira, which has a long-term power purchase agreement with AM/NS India’s adjacent steel plant.

Mr. Dilip Oommen, Chief Executive Officer, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India), said, “This transaction marks a major milestone in our ongoing efforts to strengthen AM/NS India’s energy and logistics supply chain. Owning these strategically located assets also supports our recently announced decision to proceed with a Rs. 60,000 crore capacity expansion plan at Hazira, including the ability for AM/NS India to realise additional synergies from rising throughput at the port assets in both Gujarat and Odisha”.

Acquisitions of the remaining assets included in the August 2022 agreement – a 515 MW gas based power plant at Hazira, 16 MTPA all-weather, deep draft terminal at Visakhapatnam and the 100 KM Gandhar – Hazira transmission line – are expected to be completed in due course once necessary regulatory approvals are received.