3 days ago

AAHL fundraise in line with monetisation strategy, strong growth outlook

Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises (AEL), raising equity capital of ₹98 billion ($1 billion) from a consortium of investors, values the firm at ₹1.7 trillion.

This is equivalent to about 44 per cent of AEL’s current market capitalisation of ₹3.9 trillion, according to a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL).

On Wednesday, AAHL announced plans to raise $1 billion from Alpha Wave Global, Premji Invest, Temasek and BlackRock managed funds in lieu of a 5.54 per cent stake through three tranches by July 27. AAHL, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), is a private airport operator, managing eight airports across India and serving over 23 per cent of India’s total passenger traffic.

“We view the transaction positively as it brings in high-quality global investors and provides growth capital to fund AAHL’s sizeable expansion pipeline. We see scope for further monetisation and strategic investments across AEL’s key businesses, which will unlock embedded value and provide additional funding to support the group’s large growth capex pipeline,” it said.

The portfolio is moving from capital deployment to value creation, with airports, new energy, and data centres entering the scale-up phase and mature businesses generating cash. As capex intensity moderates and incubated businesses move toward monetisation, rising cash generation should support faster deleveraging and further capital recycling, it added.

MOFSL estimates a CAGR of 22 per cent in revenue, 29 per cent in EBITDA and net profit of 82 per cent through FY26-29, aided by growth, margin expansion, and increasing contribution from high-margin verticals.

“We believe its market leadership, superior scale, diversified growth portfolio, and proven incubator model positions AEL as a leading global infrastructure platform,” MOSFL said, maintaining a buy rating on AEL.

AHL is a private airport operator, managing eight airports with about 23 per cent share of passenger traffic and 29 per cent of air cargo. The portfolio benefits from long-dated concessions, including 50-year concessions for six airports, while Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL) have concession periods extending to 2066 and 2078, respectively.