Maersk, JSW and Essar Ports join the race for divestment of Concor

The latest development comes at a time when reports indicate that Maersk is planning to double its warehousing presence in India in the next one year

Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping line and vessel operator, has shown interest in buying part of the government’s stake in Container Corporation of India (Concor). According to people close to the development, the Danish shipping major has participated in the second round of the pre-expression of interest (EoI) roadshows held by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam).

Two other companies that participated in the second round were JSW Group and Essar Ports. 

The Concor disinvestment process which was cleared in November 2019 allows the government to sell about 30.8 per cent in its holding of 54.8 per cent in the company to private players.
 

Earlier five companies/group I Squared Capital, Sojitz Corporation, Adani group, D P World, and PSA Singapore showed interest in the first round of the roadshows held last month.  “A second round was conducted, seeing interests from global majors like Maersk,” said a source aware of the development.
 

 The latest development comes at a time when reports indicate that Maersk is planning to double its warehousing presence in India over the next year and also expand its presence in the region. Earlier this week, the global major said that AP Moller-Maersk will launch a new ocean shipping service, ‘Shaheen Express’, in the last week of November. The ship would travel between Mundra, Pipavav, Jebel Ali, Dammam, and Jebel Ali, creating a stable and reliable service in the India-UAE-Saudi Arabia corridor, it said in a statement. The company posted revenue of $18.5 billion in 2021.

The roadshows for Concor were organised to bring clarity to possible investors about the land licensing fee, which was a major roadblock in the Concor disinvestment process. Based on Concor's current market cap of Rs 45,809.8 crore, 30.8 per cent stake in the company is valued around Rs 14,109.4 crore. Concor is considered to be crucial to meet the disinvestment target of Rs 65,000 crore set for the current fiscal year.  The Centre has mopped up around Rs 28,380 crore in divestment receipts, so far, this fiscal year. 

On September 7, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a proposal to lower LLF rates for new players to 1.5 per cent of the value of land, from 6 per cent. The annual escalation in fee was lowered to 6 per cent, from 7 per cent earlier. The decision was made to attract private investment in railway land.