AZB and ALMT advise on Ascent Capital investment in Karaikal Port

Private equity firm Ascent Capital is investing Rs. 200 crore ($ 41.86 million) in Karaikal Port, a subsidiary of the diversified company MARG Ltd as part of Karaikal Port expansion plans..Ascent Capital will acquire equity shares worth Rs. 150 crore ($ 31.39 million) from the promoters MARG Ltd through a secondary deal and invest the remaining Rs. 50 crore ($ 10.46 million) through compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS), according to VCCircle..AZB & Partners advised Karaikal Port with a team led by Partner Srinath Dasari and Associate Nanditha Gopal..ALMT Legal advised Ascent Capital with a team led by Partner Dhanya Menon..VCCircle reports, the deal values the Karaikal Port project at Rs 1,330 crore on a pre-money basis, which means Ascent has acquired 11.2 percent stake that will increase to around 14.5 percent when the CCPS will be converted into equity shares. Ascent has already completed the first tranche of its investment by purchasing Rs. 125 crore worth of equity shares of Karaikal Port from MARG and investing another Rs. 32 crore by subscribing to CCPS..The money raised through CCPS will be utilised to enhance the port’s capacity from the already planned expansion of 21 MMTPA to 28 MMTPA. It also involves an additional capital expansion of Rs. 600 crore.