21st Apr 2026 14:50
(Alliance News) - Mercantile Ports & Logistics Ltd saw its shares plummet after providing an update on a dispute over its primary asset.
The company is the operator and developer of Karanja, a port and logistics facility in Navi Mumbai, and also has offices in Guernsey.
Its shares sank 73% to 0.56 pence in London on Tuesday afternoon.
This came after Mercantile said "it continues to actively pursue all available legal remedies to regain control of its wholly owned asset, Karanja Terminal & Logistics Pvt Ltd".
Earlier this month, the company held a meeting of creditors, after which Mercantile said it was "hopeful" its proposals would be accepted.
At the meeting, Mercantile had stressed that it would repay amounts owed, committing to "redeem the debt of the company in full and ensure that there is no loss to creditors".
However, the company since claims it has "received what it considers to be a biased and inaccurate set of minutes" of that meeting.
Mercantile objected to another meeting convened on April 14, which nonetheless proceeded, and where Mercantile's proposals were unanimously rejected.
During a hearing in Mumbai last Wednesday, Mercantile told the court that the committee "had approved a resolution plan received from Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, which the company believes was improper as the matter was sub-judice and pending before the court".
Mercantile is arguing that the annulment of a one-time settlement with its lenders was "unlawful", and that events were "orchestrated with a view to remove the valuable asset [Karanja] from the company and hand it over to a pre-determined buyer".
The company also stressed that Karanja "has never been operationally insolvent and remains revenue generating", with Mercantile recently entering "its largest contract since inception with a state-owned oil & gas enterprise".
Consequently, Mercantile plans to lodge an appeal to secure control of Karanja.
Managing Director Pavan Bakhshi commented: "We know that we have created a valuable asset and the actions of others to try to take it from us only underlines this further.
"We believe that this process fundamentally undermines India as an investment destination and sends a deeply concerning signal to global investors."
By Holly Munks, Alliance News reporter
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