Gautam Adani is looking to sell stake in recently acquired cement company Ambuja Cements for $450 million with an aim to reduce debt, The Financial Times reported citing sources.
Adani is looking to sell 4-5 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements to regain investor confidence after allegations of fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens were leveled by the US-based short seller Hindenburg Report in January.
On Tuesday, Adani Group said that it has prepaid share backed financing worth Rs 7,374 crore or $902 million ahead of its latest maturity in April 2025.
With the repayment of the said Rs 7,374 crore 155 million shares of Adani Ports and SEZ representing 11.8 per cent of promoter holding will get released.
31 million shares of Adani Enterprises, 36 million shares of Adani Transmission and 11 million shares of Adani Green Energy will also get released, Adani Group said in a press release.
Earlier this week, Adani Group had reportedly repaid a $500 million bridge loan in order to regain the faith of its investors.
Meanwhile, more shares belonging to companies of the embattled Adani Group have been pledged as security for loans taken by the group's flagship firm, a trustee said. SBICap Trustee in notices to stock exchanges said that a further 0.99 per cent shares in Adani Green Energy Ltd were pledged "for the benefits of the lenders" of Adani Enterprises Ltd. An additional 0.76 per cent shares in Adani Transmission Ltd were also pledged to banks, the trustee said.
SBICap, which is a unit of State Bank of India (SBI), however did not give details of the loans taken by Adani Enterprises for which the pledge was created. With the latest pledge, the total shares in Adani Green Energy Ltd - the group's renewable energy company - that were encumbered with SBICap was 2 per cent. In the case of Adani Transmission, this came to 1.32 per cent.
In September last year, Adani Group completed the acquisition of Ambuja Cements and ACC to become the country's second-largest cement player after Aditya Birla Group-backed Ultratech Cement.
