Adani Enterprises raises Rs 700 crore by allotment of NCDs on private placement basis

Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Enterprises Ltd on Wednesday said it has successfully secured Rs 700 crore in funding through a strategic move of allotting 70,000 secured, unrated, unlisted, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs). These NCDs, each having a face value of Rs 1,00,000, were issued on a private placement basis, the company said in an exchange filing.

"...we would like to inform that the company has raised Rs 700 crore today i.e. 11th October 2023 by allotment of 70,000 Secured, Unrated, Unlisted, Redeemable, Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) of the face value of Rs 1,00,000 each on private placement basis," the company said in a stock exchange filing.

In July, the flagship company of the Adani Group had raised Rs 1,250 crore through a private placement of non-convertible debentures (NCD). Non-convertible debentures are long-term financial instruments that companies issue to raise more money from investors. They are not backed by any collateral and thus highly depends on the creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer.

"We would like to inform that the company has raised Rs 1,250 crore by allotment of 125,000 secured, unrated, unlisted, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of a face value of Rs 100,000 each on a private placement basis," the company said in July.

Shares of Adani Enterprises were trading at Rs 2,497.80, up by 0.39 per cent, at 10.20 AM.

Last week, Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Co (IHC) said its holding in Adani Enterprises has increased to above 5 per cent. "This strategic increase reflects IHC's conviction in the world leading incubation model of AEL and we believe that the inherent strength of Airports, Data Centers, Green Hydrogen, and various other verticals being incubated under AEL and that AEL is poised to uniquely capitalise on India’s robust growth journey. IHC continues to explore uniqueinvestment opportunities in India with the goal to maximise stakeholders’ return," said IHC in a press release.

In September, IHC said in a stock exchange notice that its subsidiaries have entered an agreement with a buyer to "dispose of" its foreign direct investment in Adani Green Energy Ltd and Adani Energy Solutions (formerly Adani Transmission).

Overseas investors such as the IHC and GQG Partners have showed in the Adani companies in the face of allegations raised by US short-seller Hindenburg Research in January that the conglomerate engaged in stock manipulation and had amassed significantly high debt.

Financial Times and OCCRP have also reported that millions were invested in some publicly traded stocks of Adani Group via "opaque" Mauritius funds that "obscured" the involvement of alleged business partners of the Adani family.

It had published an article on August 31, 2023, in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), wherein it said two men allegedly linked to Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani were using Bermuda's Global Opportunities Fund "to amass and trade large positions in shares of the Adani Group". They identified the two men as Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli from the United Arab Emirates and Chang Chung-Ling from Taiwan.

Earlier this week, Adani Group condemned the ‘renewed attempt’ by the Financial Times and its collaborators to ‘rehash old and baseless allegations to tarnish the name and standing of the Adani Group’.

The group slammed the financial daily for continuing with its relentless campaign to “tarnish” the image of the Adani group and “advance vested interests under the guise of public interest”.

The ports-to-energy conglomerate said: “This is part of their extended campaign to advance vested interests under the guise of public interest.”