Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said the acquisition of Haifa Port with a local Israeli partner will strengthen trade routes with the company’s Indian ports and could better connect Europe and the Middle East in the long term. After a two-year tender process, Adani Ports and local chemical and logistics group Gadot secured the winning bid of 4.1 billion shekels ($1.18 billion) for the port of Haifa, Israel announced Thursday.
Adani Ports will hold a 70 percent stake and Gadot will hold the remaining 30 percent, the Indian company said. The country hopes the privatization of the formerly government-owned port will lower import prices and help reduce notoriously long wait times at Israeli ports.Adani Ports, which is India’s largest port developer and operator, said the company’s acquisition will “expand its footprint into the European ports sector, which includes the lucrative Mediterranean region”.”In the short term, we look forward to developing strategic trade routes between our ports in India and Haifa,” Adani Ports chief executive Karan Adani said in a statement.
He added that the company expects Israel to become a nexus for both Europe and the Middle East in the long term.”Therefore, we will benefit from the new possible trade routes that will be created,” Adani said.Shares in the India-based group rose as much as 1.9 percent to 738.45 rupees ($9.24) on Friday and last traded 0.56 percent higher at 728.25 rupees at 0827 GMT.Warming ties with neighboring Arab countries are also creating new business opportunities for Israel. This means that Haifa is well positioned to become a regional hub as well as a link between Asia and Europe.
