Adani, Wilmar delay share sale as US bribery charges hit Adani group

By Baiju Kalesh and P R Sanjai 

Adani Enterprises Ltd. and Wilmar International Ltd. are said to delay a proposed sale of at least 12 per cent in their Indian food venture after a US bribery indictment against the billionaire-founder Gautam Adani, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

Adani Wilmar Ltd., an equal joint venture between India’s Adani Group and the Singapore-based commodity trader, was slated to start the share sale this month to comply with local securities law that requires at least 25 per cent of the holding to be with non-founders within three years of listing. The company listed in 2022 and has until February next year to meet the norms.

 

 

The majority owners of Adani Wilmar currently own a combined 86.8 per cent in Adani Wilmar, far above the maximum permissible 75 per cent. The company’s shares were trading down 2 per cent at 291.45 rupees as of 1:51 p.m. in Mumbai.

 

The maker of Fortune brand cooking oils, wheat flour, and other food products will seek an extension from India’s capital market regulator, one of the people said, asking not to be identified citing rules. Representatives of the company and advisers are of the view that it will be extremely difficult to carry out the sale before the February deadline due to the US bribery allegations, they said.

 

The decision to hold off on the share sale is the latest in a series of repercussions for the conglomerate since US federal prosecutors indicted Adani, Asia’s second-richest man, and his associates last week over a $250 million bribery scheme. The Adani Group has denied the allegations as baseless and said it will seek legal recourse.

 

A representative of Adani Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while a spokesperson for Wilmar International declined to comment.

 

France’s TotalEnergies SE, an equal partner in Indian gas distributor Adani Total Gas Ltd., said Monday that it won’t make any new investment in the conglomerate until the consequences of US indictments against Adani and his aides have been clarified.