The Hindu Business Line : Adani Power IPO likely in July

ON OFFER
33.77 cr shares with a face value of Rs 10 a share
Price band yet to be fixed
DSP Merrill Lynch is the global coordinator and book running lead manager while Karvy Computershare is the registrar to the issue
Shares to be listed on BSE, NSE

Virendra Pandit

Ahmedabad, June 26 Adani Power Ltd (APL) is likely to hit the capital market in the third week of July to collect over Rs 2,000 crore, depending on the price band, to part-fund its projects.

APL had filed its draft red herring prospectus on April 20 with SEBI, which had sent its observations to the company on June 19 that would be incorporated in the offer proposal, sources said.

APL proposes to offer 33.77 crore shares, out of a total of 228 crore, with a face value of Rs 10 a share, the price band (premium) for which is yet to be fixed. DSP Merrill Lynch is the global coordinator and book running lead manager while Karvy Computershare is the registrar. The company’s shares are to be listed on the BSE and the NSE.

APL synchronised the first unit of 330 MW at the imported coal-fired plant in Mundra, Kutch, on May 23. Earlier, a UK-based private equity fund had bought 8 per cent equity in APL, whose promoters have invested around Rs 3,500 crore in the project and tied up debt of nearly Rs 22,670 crore. The company, which started commercial power production last month, supplies electricity to the grid.

With the economic recession making the market volatile and reducing the demand for electricity, APL had to scale down its ambitious power production plans from 9,900 MW last year to 6,600 MW. This brought down the Adani’s proposed investments from Rs 43,139 crore to Rs 28,710 crore.

APL’s Rs 5,630-crore IPO to part-fund the projected target of 9,900 MW, planned for October-November 2008, was postponed due to the volatility in the market. APL, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, had planned four coal-based power generation stations for generating 9,900 MW. These included Mundra (4,620 MW) and Dahej (1,980 MW) both in Gujarat, Tiroda (1,980 MW) in Maharashtra and Kawai (1,320 MW) in Rajasthan, involving an investment of Rs 43,139 crore at the current rate of Rs 4.35 crore a MW.