Adani Wilmar listing: Gautam Adani’s group just got richer by $2.03 bn

Multibillionaire Indian entrepreneur Gautam Adani’s fortunes are on a high. He may have recently clinched the title of being the richest man in the continent, it is surely not a time for him to pause – even for celebrations. Days after he replaced his Gujarati peer Mukesh Ambani from the rich list, another of his group companies have made the Ahmedabad-based Adani Group richer by at least $2 billion.

Adani Wilmar (AWL) – the country’s largest edible oil maker and the flagship consumer goods entity in Gautam Adani’s stable – ended its first day at the stock market with a valuation of Rs 35,467.5 crore. The Bombay Stock Exchange listed the 50:50 joint venture entity between Adani Commodities Ltd and Singapore’s Lence Pte (owned by the Wilmar Group), took the valuation of the Adani Group entity’s ownership to Rs 15,166 crore or $2.03 billion at the end of the day.

AWL, which went for an initial public offering (IPO) last week, has 44 per cent of its shares each held by Adani Commodities (ACL) and Lence Pte, after the listing.

ACL’s holdings include shares held by some of key Adani family members including Gautam Adani’s wife Priti Gautam Adani, who is also the chairwoman of Adani Foundation, their son Karan Gautam Adani,  Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Shantilal Shah Adani’s son Pranav Vinod Adani, and other family members like Shilin Rajesh Adani and Namrata Pranav Adani.  As nominees of ACL, they hold 10,000 equity shares each in AWL.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 59-year-old mogul’s net worth reached $88.5 billion (Rs 663,750 crore) on February 7, ahead of Mukesh Ambani’s net worth of $87.9 billion (Rs 659,250 crore).

Some 12 per cent of its shares are now held by the public entities. While the company got listed on the BSE at Rs 221 per share, its stock price surged to Rs 265.2 at the closing – taking its valuation to Rs 35,476.5 crore.

With its listing today, the Ahmedabad-based FMCG major became the largest consumer goods company in India by revenue to get listed on the bourses. In FY20-21, AWL’s revenue stood at Rs 37,196 crore – 25 per cent higher than Rs 29,767 crore it had posted a year ago. As per its Red Herring Prospectus, the company posted Rs 24,957 crore revenue during the first six months of FY21-22 (April-September period) or 53 per cent higher over the same period last year.

Its net profit jumped 23.5 per cent during the period to Rs 357 crore from Rs 289 crore. While its earnings per share grew to Rs 3.12 from Rs 2.53.

Incorporated in January 1999 on the flood plains of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad, Adani Wilmar has grown into the largest edible oil player in the country over the last two decades. Currently, it has leadership positions in soyabean (No. 1), mustard (No. 1) and palm oil (No. 2) segments. Its dominance in the largest FMCG category – edible oil – in the country that is estimated to have annual sales of nearly Rs 5 lakh crore, is AWL’s biggest asset.