Adani Ports acquires 80% stake in global OSV operator Astro Offshore for $185 mn

Astro, which operates in the Middle East, India, Far East Asia and Africa, owns a fleet of 26 OSVs

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is set to acquire 80 percent stake in Astro, a global offshore service vehicle operator, in an all-cash deal for $185 million, implying an EV of $235 million and EV/FY25E EBITDA at 4.4x, as per a company press release.

The transaction is expected to be value accretive from the first year itself.

Astro, which operates in the Middle East, India, Far East Asia and Africa, owns a fleet of 26 OSVs comprising of anchor handling tugs (AHTs), flat top barges, multipurpose support vessels (MPSVs) and workboats and provides vessel management and complementary services, the company statement said.

"Astro’s acquisition is part of our roadmap to becoming one of the world’s largest marine operators. Astro will add 26 OSVs to our current fleet of 142 tugs and dredgers, taking the
total count to 168. The acquisition will also give us access to an impressive roster of Tier-1
customers while further consolidating our footprint across the Arabian Gulf, the Indian
subcontinent and Far East Asia. We look forward to working closely with Astro’s leadership
team and scaling up the current platform,” Ashwani Gupta, whole-time director &
CEO, APSEZ said.

NMDC, McDermott, COOEC, Larsen & Toubro and Saipem are some of the Tier 1 customers of Astro.

"Over the past 15 years, we have created an impressive company trajectory, driven by strategic investments in our OSV fleet and deep relationships with our customers. This
partnership with APSEZ represents a critical inflection point for us. Together, we can
accelerate growth to add further scale and diversity to our fleet mix, expand our geographical
footprint and deliver more end-to-end solutions to our customers,” Mark Humphreys,
managing director, Astro Offshore said.

During the year ending April 2024, Astro posted $ 95 million revenue and $ 41 million EBITDA.

Shares of APSEZ were marginally up 0.56 percent at 3:19pm, trading at Rs 1,484.05 apiece.