Billionaire Gautam Adani has raised anything between $8-10 billion through stake sales in group companies this year since January and subsequently spent about $6-7 billion to consolidate stake in the companies.

The sale transactions span a period from March 2 to the middle of August, while the acquisitions were undertaken during August to November, according to the trade details and exchange filings provided to businessline by Prime Database. The stake sales were mostly in four companies – Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Adani Energy Solutions.

Adani group did not respond to an email seeking comment on the transactions.

At the time of the Hindenburg Research allegations of price manipulation and corporate governance violations against the Adani group in January, it had over $26 billion in debt, while promoters had also raised loans through share pledges. It looked dangerously overleveraged with over $2.2 billion worth of bonds coming up for repayment in 2024.

Loans repaid

A substantial portion of the funds raised through stake sales in the early part of the year was used to pay down share-backed loans. During the year, the group repaid loans worth $4 billion of which $1.8 billion was share-backed financing and $2.2 billion in non-convertible debentures. The group also prepaid some of the smaller debts that matured during the year, allaying concerns about liquidity and cash flows.

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Majority of the stake sales were through block deals to Adani-friendly investment firms such as GQG Partners and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Adani has been careful to keep his stake in key group companies above a certain threshold level. While reducing debt levels by selling small stakes in key companies, chiefly to restore investor confidence, was imperative in the early part of the year, he has been quick to take advantage of the fall in share prices to also consolidate his stake.

Promoter group raises stake in Adani Power by 2.2% in September

Stake holding

For instance, in flagship and incubator Adani Enterprises, promoter stake fell to 67.65 per cent in the June quarter but that was quickly raised to 72.61 per cent by September-end. In Adani Ports, the stake fell to around 61 per cent in the March quarter from over 65 per cent at December-end. Market purchases during June to September have again taken the stake to over 65 per cent.

Company insiders insisted that raising stake was not about consolidating control but an indicator of the value that promoters see in the various businesses and to send out a strong signal that they were committed to the operations and future prospects of the group.

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