Adani Energy Solutions eyes Rs 50 billion fundraising via share sale

Adani Energy is looking to bring in more institutional investors, including some from the US, through the share sale. Such an expansion of investor base is also an attempt to draw more research analysts to cover the firm, one of the people said.

Gautam Adani’s power transmission unit is considering raising at least 50 billion rupees ($597 million) through a share sale, marking the Indian conglomerate’s first foray into public equity markets since a scathing short-seller’s report wiped away billions in shareholder value.

Adani Energy Solutions Ltd. is looking to raise funds through a so-called qualified institutional placement, or QIP, and plans to conclude the share sale by mid-August, people familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

This follows the board approval it received in May to raise as much as 125 billion rupees through various modes.

The return to public fundraising is a milestone of recovery for the Adani Group after US short seller Hindenburg accused it of widespread fraud and corporate malfeasance in early 2023, trigging a rout that at one point wiped over $150 billion off the conglomerate’s market value.

While the group has largely recovered, a successful QIP would be powerful vote of investor confidence in the tycoon, since he had to scrap a $2.5 billion share sale under investor pressure in the weeks after the Hindenburg attack.

Adani Energy is looking to bring in more institutional investors, including some from the US, through the share sale. Such an expansion of investor base is also an attempt to draw more research analysts to cover the firm, one of the people said.

Deliberations are ongoing and details of the fundraising, including size, could still change, the people said. An Adani Group representative couldn’t immediately comment when reached by phone.

Adani Energy is India’s largest private sector power utility and operates more than 21,100 ckm or circuit kilometers (or ckm) of transmission lines, according to its website. The company has a target of ramping up to 30,000 ckm of transmission lines by 2030 by tapping both organic and inorganic growth opportunities, it said.

On Thursday, the company reported a net loss of 8.24 billion rupees for the April to June quarter.