Billionaire Gautam Adani’s group has pledged his entire equity stake in ACC and Ambuja Cement — worth $12.5 billion — to foreign banks to fund the $6.5 billion acquisition of two cement makers from its Swiss parent company Holcim. Under this agreement, Adani would not be able to offload the shares until the lenders’ debt gets cleared.
Adani Group currently owns around 63 per cent of Ambuja Cement and 57 per cent of ACC.
The group’s companies have been in focus for quite some time due to several reasons, such as a meteoric rise in market valuation over the last couple of years, the acquisition of several companies and most recently, achieving the status of the world’s second richest person.
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Here’s a look at Adani group’s financial performance, market valuation, debt burden, and quantum of shares pledged by the promoters:
Share pledged: Before this, promoters of the Adani group have also pledged their equity stake in several group companies to fund the rapid expansion in various business verticals and to raise capital for business purposes. Data available with Ace Equity and BSE showed that promoters pledged a 25.33 per cent stake in Adani Power, 13.07 per cent in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, 5.90 per cent in Adani Transmission, 3.79 per cent in Adani Enterprises, and 2.19 per cent in Adani Green Energy.
Total debt: As per the latest filings for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), the total debt on the Adani Group companies stood at more than Rs 2.20 lakh crore. Green Energy (Rs 52,188 crore) has the highest debt burden, followed by Adani Power with total debt of Rs 48,795 crore, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (Rs 45,752 crore), Adani Enterprises (Rs 40,508 crore), Adani Transmission (Rs 32,870 crore), Adani Wilmar (Rs 2,568 crore), and Adani Total Gas with total debt (Rs 995 crore).
The recently acquired Ambuja Cements has a debt of Rs 47 crore, while ACC has nil.
Market valuation: As of September 20, the total market capitalisation of Adani Group — including Ambuja and ACC — stood at Rs 22.93 lakh crore, making it India’s most valuable business group, replacing Tata Group. Among the group companies, Adani Transmission topped the list with a market cap of Rs 4.48 lakh crore, followed by Adani Enterprises (Rs 4.37 lakh crore) and Adani Total Gas (Rs 4.04 lakh crore).
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Revenue: The gross sales of Adani Group in FY22 were more than Rs 2.30 lakh crore. Adani Enterprises was the biggest revenue generator for the group, with gross sales of Rs 69,420 crore, followed by Adani Wilmar with sales of Rs 54,213 crore. Recently acquired Ambuja Cements’ revenue figure stood at Rs 28,965 crore; Adani Power Rs 27,711 crore; and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone recorded Rs 15,934 crore of gross sales.
Profitability: Adani Group’s net profit for FY22 came at Rs 18,534 crore. Adani Power emerged as the most profitable company with a net profit of Rs 4,912 crore, followed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (Rs 4,602 crore), Ambuja Cements (Rs 3,691 crore), ACC (Rs 1,851 crore), and Adani Transmission (Rs 1,236 crore).