Global investors Blackstone and Warburg Pincus as well as India’s sovereign fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) have joined the race to buy a 30% stake in Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor), people aware of the development told The Economic Times.
Existing strategic investors in the fray include Adani Ports & SEZ and PSA International, which is wholly-owned by Temasek Holdings. A person aware of the development said that due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the bidding process may get extended to the second quarter.
The government’s shareholding in Concor, 54.8%, is on the block as part of the Centre’s ongoing divestment programme.
While Blackstone and Warburg plan to acquire stake in Concor directly though they have portfolios in logistics space, NIIF aims to buy Concor stake through Hindustan Infralog, the joint venture logistics platform it created along with Dubai-based ports operator DP World in January 2018. The platform made its debut acquisition by buying 90% stake in Continental Warehousing Corporation (Nhava Seva) Ltd in March 2018.
