APSEZ Acquires 80% Stake In Astro Offshore For $185 Mn

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), on Friday, said that it has agreed to acquire an 80 per cent stake in Astro Offshore, a leading global OSV operator, for $185 million. 

The deal, valued at an EV of $235 million and EV/FY25E EBITDA at 4.4x, is expected to be accretive in the first year.

The acquisition, which requires no regulatory approvals, will expand APSEZ's fleet to 168 vessels and enhance its presence in key markets. The deal is set to close within a month.

“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,” said Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director & CEO, APSEZ.

Astro Offshore, founded in 2009, operates a fleet of 26 OSVs across the Middle East, India, Far East Asia, and Africa. With $95 million in revenue and $41 million in EBITDA for the year ending April 2024, Astro is net cash positive and serves top-tier clients in the oil & gas and offshore construction markets.

“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,” said Mark Humphreys, Managing Director, Astro Offshore.

There are no regulatory approvals required and the transaction is expected to close within a month, subject to fulfilment of operational conditions precedent.