Adani Enterprise Rules Out Changes In Price, Schedule Of $2.5 Billion Share Sale

Billionaire Gautam Adani's group said it has ruled out any changes in price or the dates of the issue amid report that bankers were considering changes due to a market rout in the group's shares

New Delhi: Billionaire Gautam Adani's group clarified on Saturday over the Rs 20,000 crore follow-on share sale saying it has ruled out any changes in price or the dates of the issue despite its stocks plummeting below the offer price after a US investment research firm published a report against the company.

"Adani Enterprises Limited's further public offer (FPO) is going as per the schedule and the announced price band. There is no change in either the schedule of the issue price," a group spokesperson said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Notably, the FPO got subscribed only one per cent on the opening day on Friday. Only 4.7 lakh shares were subscribed against an offer of 4.55 crore shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd, based on the information available from the BSE.

The clarification from the group came amid a report that bankers were considering changes due to a market rout in the group's shares. Bankers on the deal were looking to extend the sale or slash the issue price after shares plunged following a report from a US short seller, news agency Reuters reported on Saturday citing its sources. Among the options, the bankers were looking to extend the Tuesday subscription closing date by four days, the report added citing its source.

The report citing sources added that another option by bankers is lowering the price, with one saying it could be brought it down as much as 10 per cent.

Adani had set a floor price of Rs 3,112 per share and a cap of Rs 3,276, above their close at Rs 2,761.45 on Friday. A decision on this is expected on Monday, the sources noted.

Adani Enterprises stock nosedived almost 20 per cent to below the offer price of its secondary sale as all the seven listed companies of the conglomerate took a beating in the aftermath of Hindenburg Research alleging that the group was "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades".

The Group has dismissed the report as malicious and bogus and aimed at torpedoing the FPO.

"All our stakeholders including bankers and investors have full faith in the FPO. We are extremely confident about the success of the FPO," the spokesperson added, as quoted by PTI.

The FPO closes on January 31.