Adani Enterprises Ltd’s (AEL), Rs 25,000 crore rights issue was oversubscribed at 108 per cent in what was the biggest fund raising activity by the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate since the now-defunct short-seller, Hindenburg Research, made allegations of insider trading and market manipulation against the group in January 2023.
The rights issue was priced at Rs 1,800 a share, with eligible shareholders entitled to three rights shares for every 25 held, the company said. The issue received bids for 14.95 crore shares against 13.85 crore shares on offer. This is the largest offering of its kind till date in the country,
The ports-to-energy group said proceeds from the rights issue would be used for debt reduction and capital expenditure, including repayment of shareholder loans. The group’s promoters subscribed completely to their entitlement, while the public portion was oversubscribed by 30 per cent, drawing 4.7 crore share bids against the 3.6 crore stocks on offer.
Large institutions such as GQG Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Mutual Fund and Kotak Mutual Fund subscribed to the issue. The issue also saw subscriptions from high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and retail investors. The issue opened on November 25 and closed on December 10.
Adani Enterprises’s shares fell 1.66 per cent to close at Rs 2,210.25 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday.
In February 2023, Adani Enterprises had called off its fully subscribed Rs 20,000 crore follow on public offer (FPO) and announced to return the money to the investors. The FPO was called off after the US-based Hindenburg Research on January 23 released a report alleging the group of brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud, which the conglomerate denied.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in September this year, gave a clean chit to Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani and key Adani Group firms — Adani Ports & SEZ, Adani Power, and Adicorp Enterprises — on all charges levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg Research.
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