Adani Enterprises kicks off secondary share sale; stocks continue to fall after Hindenburg report

Representational image of the Adani Group logo on one of its buildings in Ahmedabad
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Adani Enterprises Ltd began a record $2.45 billion secondary share sale for retail investors on Friday, as a heavy selloff in Adani group companies intensified after an attack by a U.S.-based short seller.

The Adani conglomerate — controlled by one of the world’s richest men Gautam Adani — lost $11 billion in market capitalisation on Wednesday in India and saw falls in its U.S. bonds after Hindenburg Research flagged concerns in a report about debt levels and the use of tax havens.

Adani Group has dismissed the report as baseless.

Adani Enterprises aims to use the share sale proceeds for capital expenditure and to pay debt. The anchor portion of the sale saw participation from investors including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority on Wednesday.

Bidding for the Adani Enterprises share sale for retail investors started on Friday and will close on January 31. The firm has set a floor price of ₹3,112 ($38.22) a share and a cap of ₹3,276.

Shares plunge on Friday

But shares of seven listed group companies plunged on Friday, taking their cumulative market capitalisation loss since Wednesday to around $30 billion, as of Friday morning.

Adani Enterprises dropped up to 6.2% and was last down 3.4% at ₹3,271.

Adani Transmission Ltd tumbled as much as 19.2% in early trading and Adani Total Gas sank 19.1% in the biggest daily drop since mid-March 2020, while Adani Green Energy sank 15.8%, before paring some losses.

In the broader market, the 30-share BSE benchmark declined 537.91 points or 0.89% to trade at 59,667.15.

Hindenburg allegations

In its report, Hindenburg said key listed Adani Group companies had “substantial debt”, putting the conglomerate on a “precarious financial footing”, and that “sky-high valuations” had pushed the share prices of seven listed Adani companies as much as 85% beyond actual value.

Billionaire U.S. investor Bill Ackman said on Thursday that he found the Hindenburg report “highly credible and extremely well researched.”

Hindenburg said it held short positions in Adani through its U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments, meaning it is betting that their price would fall.

The Adani Group’s legal head, Jatin Jalundhwala, in a statement, said the report was an “intentional and reckless attempt by a foreign entity” to mislead the investor community and the general public.

He stressed that it was meant to “sabotage the FPO (Follow-on Public Offering) from Adani Enterprises”. “The maliciously mischievous, unresearched report published by Hindenburg Research on 24 Jan 2023 has adversely affected the Adani Group, our shareholders and investors. The volatility in Indian stock markets created by the report is of great concern and has led to unwanted anguish for Indian citizens.”

Adani dismisses concerns about debt levels

Adani Group has repeatedly faced and dismissed concern about debt levels. It defended itself in a presentation titled “Myths of Short Seller” on Thursday, saying deleveraging by promoters — or key shareholders — was “in a high growth phase”.

“I don’t see much effect of the Hindenburg report,” Esquire Capital Investment Advisors Chief Executive Samrat Dasgupta told Reuters. The Adani Enterprises share sale “should sail through successfully.”

Jefferies in a client note said Adani Group had shared details of debt and leverage levels, and that it does not “see material risk arising to the Indian banking sector”.

Adani Group’s consolidated gross debt stood at ₹1.9 trillion ($23.34 billion), Jefferies said.

Adani has said its debt is at a manageable level and that no investor has raised any concern.

Adani Enterprises’ net profit for the period ended September 30, 2022 doubled to ₹9 billion ($110.31 million) while its total income nearly tripled to ₹795 billion, according to its share sale prospectus.

The company’s total liabilities as of September 2022 stood at ₹869 billion ($10.64 billion), the prospectus showed.

(With inputs from PTI)