JSW Infra shares at 52-week high after Navkar acquisition

JSW Infrastructure shares are at a 52-week high gaining 2.71% a day after the company acquired a majority stake in Navkar Corporation. SEBI today announced that a mandatory open offer of around ₹412.17 crore is made by JSW Infrastructure in compliance with the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeover) Regulations, 2011.

India’s second largest private commercial port operator JSW Infrastructure acquired a 70.37% voting share capital in Navkar Corporation, a logistics firm, for ₹1012.69 crore, says a JSW press release. A total of 10.59 crore shares were acquired at a discounted per share price of ₹95.61 against Navkar’s closing price of ₹113.55 on the NSE.

The open offer is for the acquisition of up to 39,134,988 fully paid-up equity shares, representing 26% of the company’s stake, from the public shareholder. The open offer price is ₹105.32 per equity share. JM Financial is the advisor to JSW.

The acquisition, however, requires prior regulatory approvals from the Ministry of Railways.

Navkar shares today fell 1.31% to ₹111.20 on the National Stock Exchange. JSW Infrastructure and JSW Ports have no current plans to delist Navkar Corporation from the stock exchanges, the press release reveals.

“The acquisition will result in the Company's foray into logistics and other value-added services. It will facilitate the business to offer improved port connectivity and streamlined supply chain solutions to its customers,” JSW says.

Navkar’s facilities will provide a huge base for JSW steel exports, and enable general cargo handling. “The acquisition also marks a first step towards the Company’s long-term vision of building and scaling an efficient pan-India logistics network for last-mile connectivity,” it adds.

JSW Ports is involved in steel, energy, infrastructure, cement, and allied sectors. The company is a subsidiary of JSW Infrastructure which is in the ports and terminals operation and development business.

Navkar Corporation is a Mumbai-listed multimodal logistics company engaged in the container freight station (CFS) and inland container depot (ICD) services business. Navkar operates three container freight stations one at Somathane and two at Ajivali. A CFS helps in the decongestion of a port and carries out Customs-related activities outside the port area. The ICD is located in Morbi, Gujarat which is a part of its multimodal logistics park. The company also owns Container Train Operator Category 1 and 2 Licences and registered a revenue of ₹ 453.14 crores in FY24.

The Category 1 and 2 licences from the Indian Railways permitted the company to run pan-India services for domestic and export-import (EXIM) trade.