Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL), an FMCG unit of Adani Group that offers essential kitchen commodities, is looking for local and overseas acquisition targets to expand its food business. This comes just weeks after its peer Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) announced plans to launch its FMCG business. Angshu Mallick, CEO & MD at Adani Wilmar said, “We are looking at acquiring brands in staple foods and distribution companies to boost our consumer goods offering and reach. We are expecting to conclude a couple of acquisitions by March.” Adani Wilmar raised INR 5bn ($62.9mn) via an IPO in January 2022. The company will use the IPO proceeds, internal accruals, and capex of INR 30bn ($380mn) during the upcoming financial year to fund acquisitions. Adani Wilmar has recently bought some brands such as the Kohinoor from McCormick Switzerland for an undisclosed amount.
It remains to be seen if this acquisition and expansion would raise eyebrows among credit rating agencies. Only recently, S&P raised flags on the Adani Group regarding its future acquisitions that could weigh on its ratings. Prior to that, CreditSights also signaled worries over the group’s acquisitions, adding that it could spiral into a debt trap. In the previous year, Adani Group had added 32 companies to its portfolio, valued at about $17bn apart from its core businesses pertaining to coal and infrastructure.
Adani Ports’ USD 3.375% 2024s traded lower by 0.2 points to 96.22, yielding 5.55%.
For the full story, click here
