GIP buys 25% of Indian port facility

Global Infrastructure Partners has bought a 25 percent stake in an Indian port facility Chennai Container Terminal from Indian companies Chettinad Logistics, Jakari Express and Meherji Cassinath for an undisclosed sum.

Chennai Container Terminal, based on India’s east coast, is the second largest private terminal in India by traffic volume. Since opening in 2001, the company’s volume has grown at an average annual rate of 18.7 percent, making it the second fastest growing in the country.

Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman and managing partner of Global Infrastructure Management, said he was pleased that one of the company’s first emerging market investments was in a high-growth, high-quality asset in India’s manufacturing sector.

Chennai Container Terminal was built and developed by P&O Ports and is now operated by Dubai Ports World, who have a 75 percent stake in the company.

The deal still awaits regulatory clearance from the Government of India and approval from the Chennai Port Trust.

Global Infrastructure Partners invests across both OECD and select emerging market countries. It targets assets and companies in the energy, transport and water sectors. This is the firm’s second deal in the ports sector this month, after it bought infrastructure vehicle IPH for an undisclosed sum.