Adani Wilmar aims to raise up to Rs 4,000 crore via IPO

MUMBAI: Adani Wilmar, which sells premium edible oil under the ‘Fortune’ brand, is planning to raise up to Rs 4,000 crore through an initial public offer as it seeks to expand its kitty of consumer products, two people aware of the development said.

The plan to sell shares has been on for some time now, and the company is now close to filing the red herring prospectus, as it has already appointed investment bankers, including Kotak, Bank of America, Credit Suisse and ICICI Securities.

The banks could not be contacted immediately for comment. An email query to Adani remained unanswered utill as of press time.

People in the know said the issue may be launched in the next two months as bankers have already started the process of filing draft offer documents.

Adani Wilmar will likely have 5-10 per cent promoters' stake dilution through the proposed share sale.

“The company is currently holding discussions with bankers as the matter is at an advanced stage of finalisation,” said one of the persons cited earlier.

India’s IPO market is seeing a boom. Local companies have already raised an estimated $7 billion so far in 2021, in part aided by the rising pace of vaccination which has helped allay fears around the pandemic.

Last week, restaurant aggregator Zomato raised Rs 9,375 crore in a blockbuster IPO which catapulted it to the elite club of top 100 listed companies in value terms, with a market capitalisation that crossed Rs 1 lakh crore. It was the latest of the 29 listings that India has seen so far this year. Among the other are Powergrid Infrastructure Investment Trust, Sona BLW Precision Forgings and Indian Railway Finance Corporation.

This time, local startup companies are leading from the front, with the likes of Zomato, Delhivery, Policybazaar, keeping Dalal Street busy. Large companies, too, are seen tapping the potential as yield-hungry investors rush to seek higher returns from shares amid a record low interest rate regime.

India’s food packaging industry is valued at Rs 1,636 crore and estimated to grow to Rs 2,687 crore by 2025.

Adani Wilmar, formed in 1999, is a joint venture between Adani Enterprises with Wilmar Group (Singapore). It focuses on oil seed crushing, manufacturing of edible and nonedible oils, oleochemical products, manufacturing and trading of agro products like rice, pulses, wheat flour, soya nuggets and sugar.

Adani Wilmar’s Fortune is the largest edible oil brand in India’s domestic retail consumer pack market. The company has a capacity of refining 16.285 tonnes of edible oil per day and services 1.5 million outlets across the country.

It has a fair share of exports as it sends shipments of a variety of edible oils, including mustard, soybean and sunflower to Singapore, Indonesia, China and the Middle East.

Adani Wilmar’s revenue in FY21 was Rs 37,182 crore, an increase of 25 per cent from the previous year. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were Rs 1,430 crore in FY21, according to its latest annual report.