Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission plan share sale to raise Rs 21,000 crore

Adani

Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission are planning to raise a cumulative Rs 21,000 crore through qualified institutional placements (QIP).

The share sale in two group companies in the boldest comeback strategy after the ports-to-energy conglomerate was rocked by allegations of fraud levelled by a US short-seller.

Adani Enterprises Ltd, the Adani group flagship, plans to raise Rs 12,500 crore, while power transmission venture Adani Transmission is aiming for Rs 8,500 crore, the companies said in stock exchange filings.

Adani Enterprises said its board has approved "raising of funds by way of issuance of equity shares having face value of Re 1 each of the company and / or other eligible securities or any combination thereof, for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 12,500 crore or an equivalent amount thereof by way of qualified institutional placement (QIP) or other permissible mode in accordance with the applicable laws".

Adani Transmission in a separate filing said its board has approved "raising of funds by way of issuance of such number of equity shares having face value of Rs 10 each of the company and / or other eligible securities or any combination thereof, for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 8,500 crore or an equivalent amount thereof by way of QIP or other permissible mode in accordance with the applicable laws".

The development comes three months after Adani Enterprises 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's stock which was offered in the price range of Rs 3,112 to Rs 3,276 in the FPO is now available at Rs 1,964 (at Friday's closing price).

A January 24 report of the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Group battered the investor confidence in the Adani Group with allegations of sock manipulation and accounting fraud and drove share prices downhill.

The Indian conglomerate has, however, denied all allegations, even as the market regulator is probing Hindenburg's allegations as well as Adani group's related-party dealings following a Supreme Court directive.

Adani Green Energy, which was also expected to announce similar funding plans, on Friday rescheduled its board meeting to May 24.

A planned $2.5-billion share sale by Adani Enterprise too fell through in the wake of the scathing report.

With inputs from agencies