Adani raises Rs 4,850 cr from sale of 13.5% stake in Adani Wilmar

Adani Group on Friday raised Rs 4,850 crore from the sale of 13.5 per cent of its stake in Fortune oil maker Adani Wilmar as part of a strategy to exit non-core activities to focus on main infrastructure business.

The conglomerate, which last month announced its exit from Adani Wilmar by selling the bulk of its stake to a joint venture partner, had on Thursday announced sale of 17.54 crore shares (13.50 per cent equity) in the company on January 10 (to non-retail investors) and on January 13 (to retail investors) at a floor or minimum price of Rs 275 apiece.

The offer for sale (OFS) included an option to additionally sell up to 8.44 crore shares, or 6.50 per cent equity.

Adani Commodities LLP, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, completed the offer for sale (OFS) for 13.5 per cent stake in Adani Wilmar to non-retail investors on Friday, according to information available from stock exchange filings.

The transaction saw massive demand from a diverse set of marquee international and domestic investors with over 100 investors participating in the transaction, one of the largest OFS in recent times in the Indian capital markets.

The transaction was completed successfully despite a very difficult market backdrop -- the Sensex fell 0.3 per cent while NIFTY MIDCAP 100 fell 2.1 per cent on Friday.

"We wish to intimate the stock exchanges of our intention to exercise the oversubscription option in the offer to the extent of 1.96 crore equity shares (representing 1.51 per cent of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital of the company) in addition to 17.54 crore equity shares (representing 13.50 per cent of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital of the company) forming part of the base offer size," the group said in a filing.

Accordingly, the aggregate number of offer shares will be up to 19.50 crore (15.01 per cent) of which, up to 1.95 crore (1.50 per cent) would be available as part of the offer on January 13, it added.

This transaction underlines the ability of the Adani Group to continue to successfully raise capital (both debt and equity) independent of underlying market scenarios.

With this transaction, the Adani Group has raised total equity capital of $3.15 billion this financial year.

With the successful completion of the OFS, Adani Wilmar has completed its programme for compliance with minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms, with promoters holding 74.37 per cent, and the balance 25.63 per cent held by public shareholders.

This transaction follows the agreement between Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) and Wilmar announced on December 30, 2024, pursuant to which Wilmar agreed to acquire AEL's stake in AWL post-achievement of compliance with MPS norms.

The OFS is the first phase of the port-to-power conglomerate's exit from Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL) in which it holds 43.94 per cent.

In the second phase, Singapore's Wilmar International Ltd has agreed to acquire the residual stake at a price not exceeding Rs 305 apiece.

On January 30, Adani announced its exit from the company which makes Fortune brand cooking oil, wheat flour and other food products.

As per that announcement, Adani will sell up to 40.37 crore shares (31.06 per cent stake) to Wilmar at no more than Rs 305 apiece.

The number of shares to be sold to Wilmar will depend on the response to the OFS.

The transaction is expected to conclude before March 31, 2025.

AEL had earlier raised USD 500 million in October 2024, by way of qualified institutional placement route.

As a combination, AEL will have a USD 2.5-billion war chest to fully fund AEL and further turbo charge its incubation portfolio and sharpen its focus on underlying infrastructure platforms, including airports, roads, data centres, green hydrogen.

SBI Capital, Jefferies, ICICI Securities, Nuvama, Antique, and Monarch acted as bankers to the OFS.

Proceeds from the stake sale will be used to turbocharge the growth of Adani Enterprises Ltd in core infrastructure businesses.

This is the first major transaction after the US federal prosecutors in November filed an indictment against group executives over a $265-million bribery scheme to win renewable energy supply contracts.

Adani group has denied the allegations as baseless and said it would seek legal recourse.

Adani Wilmar Ltd is an equal joint venture between Adani Group and Singapore-based commodity trader Wilmar.

The two partners own a combined 87.87 per cent of Adani Wilmar, far above the maximum permissible 75 per cent.

Markets regulator Sebi rules mandate that large firms must have at least 25 per cent of shares available to the public within three years from listing.

Established in 1999, Adani Wilmar makes Fortune brand cooking oil, wheat flour, pulses, rice and sugar. It owns 23 plants across 10 states.

The FMCG firm posted a consolidated total income of Rs 51,555.24 crore during the last fiscal.

Its market capitalisation on Monday stood at nearly Rs 42,000 crore (around $5 billion).

Adani Wilmar got listed on the stock exchanges in February 2022 after raising Rs 3,600 crore through an initial share sale.