(Bloomberg) — At least two of India’s largest business families have participated in the sale of a $2.5 billion stake in Adani Enterprises Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. this issue, in a sign of solidarity with Gautam Adani as the tycoon fights short sellers’ accusations that have caused the value of his empire to plummet.
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Tycoons Sajjan Jindal and Sunil Mittal signed up for the next offering in a last-minute attempt to help Adani’s flagship company complete the sale on Tuesday, the people who requested anonymity said the information was not clear. information is not made public.
The investments come from their personal funds and are not related to the listed businesses they operate such as JSW Steel Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd., they said. Jindal has invested about $30 million, according to one of the people familiar. It is not clear how much Mittal bought in.
Representatives for Jindal’s JSW and Mittal’s Bharti declined to comment on the founders’ possible investments in the Adani share sale. Representatives for the Adani Group were not immediately available for comment. The Indian newspaper Business Standard reported on the participation of Jindal and Mittal.
The offering was the largest follow-up share sale in India and was fully booked on the last day, supported by skyrocketing demand from institutional investors and net worth individuals. High. Interest from retail investors – whom the billionaire Adani is hoping to attract to diversify the company’s investor base – has been particularly weak.
Short seller’s attack shows the risk of going global for the Adani Empire
The involvement of some of India’s biggest corporate names, some with potentially rival business interests, comes as the Hindenburg Research allegations against Adani are seen by some in the country as a threat. threaten the country’s economy as a whole.
Attack India
Hindenburg accused the Adani group of using a network of companies in tax havens to inflate revenue and share prices. The Adani group labeled the short-seller’s allegations as “an attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the story of India’s growth and ambitions.” .”
The port-to-power conglomerate, which is in the midst of a dizzying expansion and diversification, has lost more than $70 billion in market value since Hindenburg released its report last week. The sell-off pushed shares of Adani Enterprises below the floor of the next offering. The share sale was then backed by Adani’s existing shareholder Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co., which invested $400 million in the offering.
The Adani Group called the Hindenburg report “bogus,” threatened legal action and said it was “a calculated securities fraud” on Sunday in a 413-page rebuttal, which The short seller said it had ignored all of its main allegations and was “confounded by nationalism. “
–With support from Saikat Das.
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