Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has acquired full ownership of Australia’s North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT) in a non-cash deal worth $2.4 billion. The company will issue 143.8 million equity shares to a related group entity—Carmichael Rail and Port Singapore Holdings—under a preferential allotment route. The move will raise promoter group shareholding by 2.13 per cent.

The transaction, routed through the acquisition of Singapore-based Abbot Point Port Holdings (APPH), is subject to approvals from the RBI, shareholders, and Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board. Closure is expected within two quarters.

APPH owns and operates NQXT, a deep-water coal export terminal with a nameplate capacity of 50 million tonnes annually. The terminal, previously owned by APSEZ, was sold to the Adani family in 2013 to allow the company to focus on domestic expansion. With this share swap, APSEZ regains the asset based on an enterprise value of A$3,975 million.

APSEZ expects the deal to accelerate its goal of doubling cargo volumes to 1 billion tonnes per annum by FY30. Exports from NQXT are expected to rise from 35 million tonnes in FY25 to 120 million tonnes, including future green hydrogen shipments.

“This is a strategic leap in our international play,” said Ashwani Gupta, CEO of APSEZ. “We aim to scale EBITDA to A$400 million in four years.”

In FY25, NQXT clocked A$349 million in revenue and A$228 million in EBITDA. Nearly 88 per cent of exports went to Asia, with Europe accounting for 10 per cent.