According to sources, wealth funds from Abu Dhabi and Qatar are supporting the sale of Adani Energy shares worth up to $1 billion
By Dhwani Pandya and Jayshree P Upadhyay
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Qatar Investment Authority have invested up to $1 billion in a share sale of India’s Adani Energy Solutions, two sources said, the first such deal since a damning report by short-seller Hindenburg Research last year.
The deal is Adani Group’s first equity capital raising since a $2.5 billion share sale was called off in February last year following accusations of abuse of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation by US firm Hindenburg Research. Adani has always denied wrongdoing.
The list of more than 50 investors also includes GQG Partners, Nomura and India’s Bandhan Mutual Fund, said the sources, who had direct knowledge of the deal but declined to give their names because the names of the investors are not public.
Adani Energy, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, and the investors named above did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The investment will help Adani, which has been able to gain support from investors after Hindenburg’s report triggered a sell-off of more than $100 billion in the company’s shares last year. Shares have since recovered significantly.
Adani Energy, the group’s power transmission and distribution business, raised funds through a Qualified Institutional Placement, a tool used by listed Indian companies to raise funds from large institutions.
A press release from Adani Energy said the floor price for the issue had been set at 1,027.11 Indian rupees (US$12.27), a discount from Tuesday’s closing price of 1,124.9 rupees, but did not disclose the names of the investors.
The stock sale was valued at $700 million, with a so-called greenshoe option for an additional $300 million, the sources said. The share sale began on Tuesday.
Adani Energy shares rose by around 7 percent on Tuesday. However, the price is around 60 percent below its level before Hindenburg Research’s allegations against the company.
(Reporting by Dhwani Pandya and Jayshree P Upadhyay in Mumbai and Varun Hebbalalu in Bengaluru. Editing by Aditya Kalra, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Matthew Lewis)
