Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) announced on Monday that it will exit its joint venture with Wilmar International Limited by selling its entire stake in Adani Wilmar Limited (AWL), as stated in a company announcement.

According to the announcement, the deal, which was inked on December 30, is anticipated to generate more than $2 billion for AEL. This is the first big deal for the Gautam Adani-led business since the Adani Group was charged by the US Department of Justice in November. AEL, along with its fully owned subsidiary Adani Commodities LLP (ACL), made an agreement with Lence Pte. Ltd, a subsidiary of Wilmar International Ltd, on Monday. According to the agreement, Lence will acquire all the equity shares of AWL held by ACL by using a call or put option. This will represent up to 31.06% of AWL's total equity shares. To meet the minimum public shareholding requirements, AEL will also sell an additional 13% of its shares in AWL. After these two steps are completed, AEL will fully exit its 44% ownership in AWL.

“This transaction highlights Adani’s strategic focus on streamlining its portfolio and unlocking liquidity to invest in its core businesses. The proceeds from the deal will be directed toward accelerating growth in key infrastructure sectors, including Energy & Utility, Transport & Logistics, and other industry-adjacent ventures,” the company statement read. The Adani Group plans to boost AEL's ability to incubate new projects, allowing it to concentrate more on its consumer-focused divisions, such as Adani Airports and Adani Digital. These divisions together serve around 350 million consumers. The group has invested roughly 63% of its total assets in equity at the portfolio level. According to the corporation, this ratio should continue to improve as a result of the deal.

Over the past four months, AEL and other companies in the Adani Group have raised a significant amount of capital. AEL secured $500 million in October 2024, and with the AWL transaction, they will have raised a total of $2.5 billion. In addition, other Adani Group companies, including Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL), Ambuja Cements Limited, and Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), together raised around $2 billion during the same period. This brings the total amount raised by the group to $4.5 billion.