Adani exits AWL Agri business; Wilmar to take control with 64% stake

AHMEDABAD: Marking the end of its two-decade-long joint venture with Singapore’s Wilmar International, Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), the flagship company of the ports-to-power conglomerate, Adani Group, on Thursday announced it initiated a full exit from AWL Agri Business Ltd (formerly Adani Wilmar Ltd).

According to a regulatory filing on Thursday, AEL’s subsidiary, Adani Commodities LLP (ACL), signed a definitive agreement to sell up to 20% of its stake in AWL to Wilmar’s wholly owned unit, Lence Pte Ltd, at a price of 275 per share, valuing the transaction at 10,874 crore.Once the transaction is completed, Wilmar, through Lence, will hold approximately a 63.94% stake in AWL, replacing Adani as the controlling shareholder of one of India’s largest consumer goods companies.The transaction stems from an agreement signed in December 2024, which granted reciprocal call and put options to Adani and Wilmar over ACL’s stake in AWL, at a mutually agreed price not exceeding 305 per share. At the time, Adani Commodities held 31.06% of AWL’s equity.

In January 2025, exercising part of this arrangement, ACL sold a 13.51% stake through an Offer for Sale (OFS) at Rs 276.51 per share, raising 4,855 crore and enabling AWL to meet SEBI’s minimum public shareholding norms.

As per the latest agreement, Lence will acquire at least 11% and up to 20% of AWL’s paid-up capital from ACL, at a price of Rs 275 per share. The exact quantity of shares to be purchased will be decided by Lence. Any remaining shares within this 20% band not bought by Lence will be sold to strategic partners or investors identified by Wilmar. In parallel, ACL’s residual 10.42% stake in AWL will be transferred to a pre-identified group of investors.

Following these transactions, ACL will fully exit AWL, which will cease to be its associate company.The latest stake sale also involves the termination of longstanding agreements between Adani and Wilmar, including their original shareholders’ agreement signed in 1999 and subsequent amendments. This formalises the shift of operational and governance control of AWL to Wilmar International.With the current deal valued at 10,874 crore, coupled with 4,855 crore realised from the January 2025 OFS, Adani Group’s total realisation from its exit in AWL will stand at 15,729 crore. The share purchase agreement and associated termination agreements were executed on Thursday. Completion of the transaction remains subject to customary regulatory and anti-trust approvals, the company said in its regulatory filing.