Adani Enterprises buys Australian coal asset for $2.7 billion
By IANSTuesday, August 3, 2010
MUMBAI - Gujarat-based Adani Enterprises, part of the Rs.30,000-crore diversfied Adani Group, has acquired the coal mine assets of Linc Energy of Australia for a cash and royalty package worth $2.7 billion to expand the group’s energy business.
“The purchase consideration is AUD 500 million ($455 million) plus a royalty payment for a twenty year period linked to production,” the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Though the company did not quantify the royalty bonus, reports from Sydney put the amount at Australian $2 a tonne, taking the entire deal size to $2.7 billion.
The coal tenement in the Galilee Basin in Queensland has a capacity of about 7.8 billion tonnes of coal, making it the largest single coal tenement in Australia.
“The coal from the Galilee Basin would support and enable the rapid expansion of the power business of Adani Power in India, while also expanding Adani Enterprises Ltd’s coal business, where Adani is already the largest importer of thermal coal in India,” said the statement.
The Queensland government has approved the deal carried out by Adani’s subsidiary, Adani Mining Pty.
At the BSE, the Adani Enterprises scrip rose 3.88 percent to touch an intra-day high of Rs.633.40, before closing the day at 622.55 percent, up 2.11 percent from its previous close at Rs.609.70.
The Adani Power scrip also touched a new high during the day at Rs.136.35, rising 1.3 percent, but ended a volatile trading day at 134.30, down 0.19 percent from its previous close at Rs.134.55.
