Select Adani Group shares saw a sharp uptick on Monday, registering up to a double-digit spike even as domestic benchmarks slumped. For instance, Adani Total Gas Ltd soared 11.20 per cent to settle at Rs 755.40. The group's flagship firm Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) stock moved up 7.65 per cent to close at Rs 2,593.45.
Adani Power Ltd shares settled 6.46 per cent higher at Rs 539.70. Adani Energy Solutions Ltd and Adani Green Energy Ltd rose 2.46 per cent and 2.31 per cent, respectively.
The key trigger behind today's climb is AEL fully exiting the Adani Wilmar joint venture for Rs 12,314 crore. "AEL will sell around 13 per cent in Adani Wilmar Ltd to achieve minimum public shareholding requirements and Wilmar International has agreed to acquire 31 per cent or 403,739,517 equity shares held by AEL in Adani Wilmar Ltd. With this, AEL will fully exit the Adani Wilmar Ltd platform. Adani's nominee directors step down from the Board of Adani Wilmar Ltd. Parties have agreed to take steps for change of name of 'Adani Wilmar Ltd'," the company stated in a release.
"AEL will completely exit its 44 per cent holding in Adani Wilmar. As on Friday, 27 December 2024, Adani Wilmar had a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 42,785 crore ($ 5 billion). The proceeds from the sale will be utilised for turbocharging growth in the core infrastructure platforms in energy & utility, transport & logistics and other adjacencies in primary industry," it added.
"AEL and Wilmar are the founder shareholders of Adani Wilmar and have jointly built the largest Food FMCG player in India which has won the trust of millions of Indian families. Adani Wilmar is well-positioned to benefit from the huge scale of operations, a strong distribution network and retail reach across the length and breadth of India. Adani Wilmar has 100 per cent urban coverage and presence in over 30,600 rural towns in India and exports to over 30 countries globally. The transaction is subject to customary condition precedents including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals," it further stated.
Singapore-based Wilmar would acquire Adani's remaining 31 per cent stake at a price not exceeding Rs 305 rupees per share, the Gautam Adani-led firm said in a statement.
In addition, two directors of Adani Wilmar have resigned with immediate effect. "Pranav V Adani (non-executive and non-independent director) and Malay Mahadevia (non-executive and non-independent director) have resigned from the Board with effect from December 30, 2024," Adani Wilmar stated.
The calendar year 2024 has been a tumultuous year for Adani stocks, starting with US-based short seller Hindenburg Research's report to the recent indictment in the United States (US) over bribery and fraud charges. However, the Indian conglomerate has denied all these allegations.
Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks started the week on a dull note as banks, financials, automobile, metals and realty stocks.