Three Adani firms weigh raising up to Rs 40,000 cr: Report

Three Adani Group companies are considering a fundraising that may draw as much as $5 billion (Rs 40,000 crore), said a report on Thursday.

Adani Enterprises Ltd, flagship arm of Adani Group, as well as Adani Green Energy Ltd and Adani Transmission Ltd, may raise between $3 billion and $5 billion for a war chest to bolster the businesses, reported Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.

The boards of the three firms are meeting on Saturday to consider raising funds via the sale of shares or other securities, according to exchange filings late Wednesday.

Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Co, which has invested almost $2 billion in Adani companies, does not plan to take part in any potential share sales, IHC's spokesman told Bloomberg.

''A meeting of the board of directors of Adani Enterprises Ltd will be held on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at Ahmedabad, inter alia, to consider and approve the proposal of the raising of funds by way of issuance equity shares or any other eligible securities through permissible modes, including but not limited to a private placement, a qualified institutions placement, preferential issue, or any other method or combination of methods,'' the Adani flagship said in the filing.

This comes three months after Adani Enterprises Ltd was forced to abort a Rs 20,000 crore follow-on public offering (FPO) in the wake of the Hindenburg report.

The offer was fully subscribed but the company returned the money to subscribers.

The company stock, which was offered in the price range of Rs 3,112 to Rs 3,276 per share, in the FPO is now available at Rs 1,984 (at Thursday's closing price).

Adani Green Energy Ltd, the group's renewable energy company, and Adani Transmission too sent out a similarly worded filing.

Meanwhile, news agency PTI reported on Thursday that Gautam Adani-led Adani Group may be looking at raising between $2 billion and $2.5 billion, with investors in Europe and the Middle East evincing strong interest.

US short-seller Hindenburg Research in January released a damning report alleging accounting fraud and stock price manipulation at the Adani group, triggering a stock market rout that had erased about USD 145 billion in the conglomerate's market value at its lowest point.

Adani Group has denied all allegations by Hindenburg and is plotting a comeback strategy. Adani stocks are still off more than $110 billion in value since the report.

The ports-to-power conglomerate has recast its ambitions as well as prepaid some loans to assuage investors.

Promoters in March sold stakes worth Rs 15,446 crore in four group companies to leading US-based global equity investment boutique GQG Partners.

The group has been trying to win back market confidence with a series of investor roadshows, early debt repayments, and plans to scale back its pace of spending on new projects.

The funds that Adani Group is looking to raise will be the conglomerate's biggest borrowing since the January 24 Hindenburg report. The money raised is intended to be used for funding the group's expansion projects.

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