Adani Group Buys Alpha Design Technologies for ₹ 4 billion

Bengaluru-based defence electronics and hi-tech major, Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd, was recently acquired by the Adani Group in an all-cash deal. The company was founded by current CMD Col. H.S. Shankar, post-retirement in 2003. The 72-year-old’s inspirational journey in the electronics industry earned him the ELCINA-EFY Electronics Man of the Year award in 2018. The firm was acquired for a tidy sum of 4 billion.

- Baishakhi Dutta

In what turned out to be a surprising development for the electronics industry, global conglomerate Adani Group’s flagship entity, Adani Enterprises Ltd, recently acquired Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd, a defence electronics and avionics company based in Bengaluru, for a total cash transaction of 4 billion (US$ 57.03 million). This means that the Adani Group is one of the newest heavyweight entrants into India’s electronics and A&D sector. Big names entering the electronics playground is becoming a popular trend in India. Another industry giant, the Hero Group, has made its presence felt in the Indian electronics industry through its company Hero Electronix, which has acquired a string of technology firms. The acquisition of Alpha Design is ex pected to have a significant impact on the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group’s business structure, as it will allow the group to enter the Indian defence manufacturing and export markets.

The Adani Group stated that the acquisition was done by purchasing over 13 million (13,316,909) equity shares of 10 each at a premium of 290.37 per share. It seems that the premium value extracted out of this deal was around . 3.87 billion (US$ 55.15 million). Following the acquisition, Alpha Design has proposed to the Navy that it can participate in a continuing 21 billion contract to upgrade an antisubmarine warfare helicopter fleet by working with the Adani Group.