Adani Enterprises, the flagship business of the Adani Group, said on Friday it would acquire 100 per cent equity in Stark Enterprises (SEPL), which operates online train booking platform Trainman. The company did not disclose the value of the transaction.
“Adani Digital Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has signed a share purchase agreement in relation to its proposed acquisition of 100 per cent stake in Stark Enterprises,” read a stock exchange notification from Adani Enterprises.
Gurugram-based SEPL is an IRCTC-authorised online train ticket booking start-up founded by IIT Roorkee graduates Vineet Chirania and Karan Kumar. The company had recently raised USD 1 million in the latest round of fundraising from a group of US investors, including Goodwater Capital, Hem Angels and others.
The transaction assumes significance as it marks the return of the fast-expanding Adani Group to the mergers and acquisition space after US-based short seller Hindenburg published a critical report against the group in January. The short seller accused the Adani Group of ‘fraud’ and governance lapses, accusations the cooking oil-to-ports conglomerate has denied.
It also appointed insider JoAnn Tan as its first female chief financial officer to replace Tan Kai Ping and Dai Hao Yu, Divisional Vice President of Digital, will be promoted to Acting Senior Vice President of Marketing Planning. All appointments would be effective from September 10, 2023, the SIA said.
The Adani Group had dialed back its ambitions in the wake of the Hindenburg report. The group also reportedly shelved its plans of expanding into petrochemicals and setting up a coal-to-polyvinyl chloride project in Mundra. In February, the Adani Group’s INR 7,000-crore deal to acquire thermal power assets of DB Power fell through after multiple extensions to the deadline to complete the transaction expired. In April, the group’s proposed acquisition of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company, Air Works, got delayed after a major shareholder in the target entity was forced into liquidation.
The stock of Adani Enterprises ended 0.86 per cent higher at INR 2,506.65 on the BSE on Friday.
