NEW DELHI: Billionaire Gautam Adani’s sprawling conglomerate has raised over $5 billion (Rs 41,500 crore) in equity and a double of that in debt this year as the apples-to-airport group made a comeback since being hit by a bombshell short seller report.
Adani, who was the world’s second-richest man at the start of the year, saw almost $60 billion of his personal wealth erased after Hindenburg Research in a January 24 report accused his group of market manipulation and accounting fraud.
The group denied all allegations and reworked its strategy, fuelling a comeback that now has the tycoon some $36 billion short of where he started the year and two notch and $12 billion shy of rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
Star investor GQG Partners bought stakes worth almost $4.3 billion in five group companies between March and August while Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and French energy giant TotalEnergies poured in $770 million in renewable energy firm Adani Green Energy Ltd, according to company filings and stock exchange data.
Parallelly, the promoters infused $4.6 billion in repaying loans against shares, servicing loans taken for cement acquisitions and supporting green investments. While the equity raise helped shore up investor confidence, the group re-established its bankability with $6.4 billion of loans raised across five companies and refinancing of $3.5 billion debt taken to fund the 2022 acquisition of ACC and Ambuja Cement.