The Adani Enterprises.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
A firm owned by billionaire Gautam Adani and his family plans to sell $500 million of Ambuja Cements Ltd.’s shares.
Holderind Investments Ltd. will sell 69.96 million shares, or 2.84 per cent stake in the cement maker, for 41.98 billion rupees, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg. The offer price of 600 rupees apiece is at a 5 per cent discount to Thursday’s closing.
Ambuja shares rose as much as 4.5 per cent— the most since July 1 — while trading on Friday, pushing this year’s rally to 23 per cent. The stock jumped after about 67.96 million shares were traded in 31 block trades on the National Stock Exchange, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The terms didn’t elaborate how the founders intend to use the proceeds from the stake sale. CNBC-Awaaz reported earlier Thursday, citing people it didn’t identify, that Adani founders may sell as much as 5 per cent stake in Adani Power Ltd. and Ambuja Cements to repay the media-to-mining conglomerate’s debt.
Ambuja is one of the two firms the Adani Group bought in 2022 from Holcim Ltd. to emerge as India’s second-largest cement maker overnight. The conglomerate, which faced a withering short seller attack from Hindenburg Research LLC last year, is now back on its growth spree. It has been buying local cement firms in an escalating turf war with sector leader, UltraTech Cement Ltd. to dominate a raw material key to India’s infrastructure boom.
The block deal comes as the group considers fresh fundraising for its flagship unit after selling shares in its power utility, amid a rally in local stocks. It adds to a flurry of such transactions including Chinese fintech giant Ant Group Co.’s sale of $569 million shares in Zomato Ltd.
The transaction will help boost Adani companies’ public float. Robust appetite for the group’s share sale will also be a sign of investor confidence after Hindenburg’s allegations of a widespread corporate malfeasance in 2023 sparked a rout in the group’s shares. Adani Group has repeatedly denied these allegations.
Jefferies India is the advisor for the secondary market transaction, which will be executed Friday.