The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday cleared the acquisition of certain ports and power infrastructure assets of Essar Group by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd.
The proposed combination involves the acquisition of certain power assets — Essar Power Hazira Ltd and Gandhar Hazira Transmission Ltd. The port assets include Hazira Cargo Terminals Ltd, Ibrox Aviation & Trading Pvt Ltd, Essar Bulk Terminal Ltd, Essar Bulk Terminal Paradip Ltd, and Essar Vizag Terminals Ltd. Other assets are Snow White Agencies Pvt Ltd and Bhagwat Steel Ltd, as per an official release.
All these assets belonging to the Essar Group will be acquired by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd (AMNS), a joint venture between ArcelorMittal SA and its affiliates and Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation.
The deal covers port assets in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha as well as two power plants at Hazira and an electricity transmission line.
Last month, Essar group announced the signing of a USD 2.4 billion (Rs 19,000 crore) deal to sell certain ports and power infrastructure to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel in one of the largest post-pandemic merger and acquisition deals in India.
The deal covers a 25 million tonnes per annum capacity jetty at the all-weather, deep draft bulk port terminal at Hazira, Gujarat, captive and adjacent to the Hazira steel plant. It also includes a 16 million tonnes all-weather, deep draft terminal at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, along with an integrated conveyor connected to AMNS India’s 8 million tonnes a year iron ore pellet plant in the port city.
The deal also covers a 12 million tonnes deep-water jetty at Paradip, Odisha, along with a dedicated conveyor that handles 100 per cent of pellet shipments from AMNS India’s Paradip pellet plant.
It also includes a 270 MW multi-fuel power plant at Hazira, which has a long-term power purchase agreement with the adjacent steelmaking facility and a 515 MW gas-based power plant, along with allied land.
And so is a 100-kilometre Gandhar to Hazira transmission line, connecting AMNS India’s steelmaking complex with the central electricity grid.
Deals beyond certain thresholds require approval from CCI, which keeps a tab on anti-competitive practices.
