Bain to buy majority stake in Adani Capital, Adani Housing

Bain Capital has agreed to buy the 90 per cent stake Gautam Adani’s family holds in an Indian shadow bank, allowing the embattled billionaire to pare down his non-core businesses.

The Boston-based investment firm will buy the stake in Adani Capital and Adani Housing, according to a statement Sunday.

The buyout

While the statement didn’t specify how it’s paying for the stake, Bain has committed $120m in primary capital to the company, and will immediately make available a $50m liquidity line in the form of non-convertible debentures.

Gaurav Gupta, Adani Capital’s managing director, and chief executive officer, will continue to hold 10 per cent of the company and remain in his roles, according to the statement.

Business Standard earlier cited unidentified people as saying Bain would be paying about $180m. Bloomberg had previously reported Bain and Carlyle Group are among potential bidders for a controlling stake in the company.

Bain Capital is a partner “who shares our vision of making affordable finance available to our customer segment with a strong focus on customer literacy and education,” Gupta said in the statement. “With Bain committing 1,000 crores rupees of capital in the company, we are now equipped to grow 4x from here.”

Adani’s paring of liabilities

The sale of Adani Capital will help the group cut liabilities on his conglomerate’s balance sheet as it focuses on its infrastructure development businesses, including building a new airport on the outskirts of Mumbai. The group has been consolidating its range of businesses as it seeks to recover from a damaging short-seller attack earlier this year.

Adani Capital started its lending operations in April 2017 and has more than 160 branches across India, according to its website. The non-bank lender was planning an IPO as early as 2024, selling about a 10 per cent stake with a targeted valuation of $2bn, Gupta said in an interview last year.