Billionaire Gautam Adani’s power transmission unit, Adani Energy Solutions, has received bids that are more than three times the amount the company plans to raise from a share sale, signalling strong investor interest.

Indian and international institutions have oversubscribed to Adani Energy Solutions Ltd.’s $1 billion share sale through the Qualified Institutional Placement, or QIP, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

This share sale marks the first equity fundraising by a unit of Adani Group following the damaging report released by short-seller Hindenburg Research in January 2023 alleging widespread corporate malfeasance by the conglomerate. Adani Group has repeatedly denied these allegations. 

It also came on the heels of another $1 billion share sale by Vedanta Ltd. earlier in July.

The planned $1 billion share sale comprises a base issue size of $700 million and an option to raise the rest. The shares are offered at an indicative price of 976 rupees, according to the terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News.

The Adani Group didn’t immediately reply to Bloomberg’s request for comment. Bloomberg reported last week Adani Energy will raise at least $600 million through the share sale and has picked domestic investment banks to work on it.

Adani Energy is India’s largest private-sector power utility and operates more than 21,100 circuit kilometres of transmission lines, according to its website. The company has a target of ramping up to 30,000 ckm by 2030 by tapping both organic and inorganic growth opportunities, it said.

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(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

New Delhi:

Gautam Adani-led group’s power transmission unit, Adani Energy Solutions, has raised $1 billion through a share sale, the first public equity raise by the conglomerate since the Hindenburg report.

Adani Energy Solutions Ltd raised the funds through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Press Trust of India.

The QIP, which opened on Tuesday, was oversubscribed three times with demand of about Rs 26,000 crore – making it the largest transaction in India’s energy space.

The issue closed at Rs 1,135 per share, as against the issue price of Rs 976 per share or a 14 per cent listing discount.

QIP is an instrument used by listed companies to raise funds from large institutions.

PTI reported that marquee investors such as GQG, QIP, ADIA and a few top names in the US participated in the QIP. Domestic institutions including Bandhan MF, Nomura, and 360 India Infoline also participated in the issue.

The fundraising is the first after the group’s flagship firm scrapped a Rs 20,000 crore issue in February last year, following the Hindenburg report alleging accounting fraud and stock manipulation.

The group vehemently denied all allegations, and listed companies of the conglomerate at one point saw over $150 billion of their market value being wiped out.

While the group has largely recovered, a successful QIP is being seen as a powerful vote of investor confidence in the tycoon.

Separately, Adani Enterprises Ltd, the flagship firm of the group, is looking to revive its first-ever public sale of bonds. It plans to raise as much as Rs 600 crore.

The company has hired Trust Investment Advisors, AK Capital Services and Nuvama Wealth Management as lead managers for the issuances.

The group had tapped the dollar bond market in March this year – the first time since the Hindenburg report – when its solar energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd and associated firms got bids of about USD 2.9 billion.

In a stock exchange filing, Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) said its management has authorised the opening of the issue on Tuesday as well as approved the floor price for the issue.

The floor price was set at Rs 1,027 per equity share.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)