Adani group’s promoter entities are looking to sell stakes in some group entities to raise funds that can be used to retire high cost loans taken to fund its acquisition of Ambuja Cements and ACC as well as to invest in real estate in Mumbai, sources said.

The promoter entities are likely to sell around 3-5 per cent stake in some companies where they have comfortably high stakes such as Adani Power (72.7 per cent), Ambuja Cements (70.3 per cent) and Adani Enterprises (74.7 per cent), to raise up to ₹15,000 crore, the sources said.

In 2022, billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani group acquired Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary for $6.4 billion. It had taken loans to finance the acquisition and in 2023 refinanced $3.5 billion with a consortium of 18 international banks at more agreeable terms with a maturity of three years.

Cost of borrowing overseas has gone up and sources indicated the group would be trying to lower its overseas exposure to bring down its finance costs and overall debt. The group’s weighted average cost of debt capital has risen to 9.2 per cent in FY24 from a low of 7.9 per cent in FY21.

Real estate

It would also be looking to raise funds to invest in real estate activities in Mumbai, especially the slum rehabilitation of Dharavi, an ambitious project to redevelop one of the largest slum clusters in the world. It is estimated to cost north of ₹20,000 crore.

There was no response to an e-mail sent to the Adani group seeking clarification on the planned transactions till the time of going to press.

The group ended FY24 with gross debt of around ₹2.4 lakh crore of which long-term debt was ₹2.2 lakh crore. Currently domestic banks and lenders account for 36 per cent of its debt, 26 per cent from global banks and 29 per cent from global capital markets.

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