Billionaire Adani owned company Adani Wilmar was listed recently in stock exchanges. The company has become an outlier among not only India’s, but Asia’s newly listed stocks. The food company has almost tripled since its debut while most newcomers are trading under water.
Out of 121 Asian IPOs worth over $100 million this year, almost two thirds of the region’s new listings are in the red as rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine take a toll. However, Adani Wilmar which is a joint venture between the group controlled by Asia’s richest person Gautam Adani and Singapore’s Wilmar International, have outperformed all of them.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore and Nippon Life India were among investors in Adani Wilmar’s IPO, which makes Fortune brand cooking oils, wheat flour, rice, pulses, sugar and other food products. The firm said it would use part of the funds in the $486 million offering to expand facilities, repay loans and make strategic acquisitions.
The strong performance bodes well for Adani, one of Asia’s busiest dealmakers, who’s expanding his reach after years of focusing on coal and infrastructure-related plays. The tycoon’s move to diversify into new areas like data centers and digital services has paid off, after he capped a run of some 32 acquisitions in the past year.
