An Adani Wilmar facility in Gujarat, India.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL) is selling its entire 44% stake in Mumbai-listed Adani Wilmar in a $2 billion multi-phased deal with partner Wilmar International, the Singapore-based palm oil giant backed by Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok.
Under the deal, AEL said it will sell an initial 13% stake in Adani Wilmar to comply with the minimum public float required by Indian regulators and sell the remaining 31% stake in the cooking oil maker to Singapore-listed Wilmar International.
Adani Enterprises, Gautam Adani’s flagship company, is exiting from the joint venture with Wilmar to focus on its core infrastructure businesses and use the proceeds from the deal to expand its renewable energy, transport and logistics ventures.
“AEL will continue to invest in infrastructure sectors which will further strengthen AEL’s position as India’s largest listed incubator of platforms playing the key macro themes underpinning India’s growth story,” the company said in statement on Monday. Adani Enterprises added that its board representatives will resign from Adani WIlmar, whose corporate name will eventually be changed.
With a market capitalization of about $5 billion, the partners have jointly built the largest consumer foods manufacturer in India, with presence across edible oils, oleochemicals as well as food staples such as rice, sugar and wheat. Adani Wilmar has 100% urban coverage and presence in over 30,600 rural towns in the subcontinent and exports to over 30 countries globally.
Adani Wilmar, which made its market debut in India in 2022, is among the more than 10 joint venture companies owned and managed by Wilmar International, the palm oil giant established by Robert Kuok and his nephew Kuok Khoon Hong in 1991, around the world. With a real-time net worth of $11.5 billion, Kuok owns a valuable stake in the commodities company, along with his interests in the Shangri-La Hotel chain, real estate, shipping and logistics. Khoon Hong, who is chairman of Wilmar International, has a net worth of $3.8 billion.
