Adani Enterprises follow-on public offer fully subscribed

The ₹20,000 crore share sale of Adani group’s flagship firm was fully subscribed on Tuesday after non-retail investors bid in big volumes, according to stock exchange data.

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Non-institutional investors put in bids for over three times the 96.16 lakh shares reserved for them, while the 1.28 crore shares reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was almost fully subscribed, according to BSE data.

There was, however, muted response from retail investors and company employees.

Retail investors, for whom roughly half of the issue was reserved, bid for just 11% of the 2.29 crore shares earmarked for them. Employees sought 52% of the 1.6 lakh shares reserved for them.

Adani Group's stocks have tumbled after the January 24 report from U.S.-based Hindenburg Research which flagged concerns about high debt levels and the use of tax havens, with cumulative losses now at $65 billion. Mr. Adani has called the report baseless.

The share sale is critical for Mr. Adani, not just because it is India's largest follow-on offering and will help cut debt, but also because its success will be seen as a stamp of confidence by investors at a time the tycoon faces one of his biggest business and reputational challenges of recent times.

The Group had in recent days repeatedly said investors were standing by its side and the share offering would go through, amid rising concerns that may not happen. Bankers at one point had considered tweaking the pricing of the issue, or extending the sale, Reuters had reported.