Haifa becomes private entity

The Adani-Gadot consortium, comprising Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) along with Israel’s Gadot Group has secured the rights to buy out Haifa Port Company for US$1.18 billion. The concession remains up to 2054.

The takeover is part of APSEZ plans to transform the company into a global transport utility. “This win is strategic for us from several dimensions,” said Karan Adani, wholetime director & chief executive, APSEZ.

“It gives us a much larger presence in Israel, one of India’s most strategic partners. In the short term, we look forward to developing strategic trade lanes between our ports in India and Haifa and help facilitate trade between the two countries.

“In the long run, this is a tremendous port as we anticipate Israel becoming a connection both for Europe and the Middle East, and therefore we stand to be benefit from the new possible trade lanes that will get created.”

The Port of Haifa handles nearly half of Israel’s container cargo and is the principal port for passenger traffic and cruise ships. Located towards the north of the country port currently includes two container terminals and two multi-cargo terminals, handling 1.46 million teu of containers and 2.56 million tonnes of general and bulk cargo in 2021.

“Our partnership with Adani blends the best of two worlds – our expertise in handling cargo in Haifa Port and Adani’s world class capability in managing port operations,” said Opher Linchevski, chief executive of Gadot.