Adani poised to acquire Trainman, an online train booking platform

19 Jun 2023 CW Team

The value of the transaction was not disclosed by the company.

According to a stock exchange notification from Adani Enterprises, "Adani Digital Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has entered into a share purchase agreement for the proposed acquisition of the complete stake in Stark Enterprises."

SEPL, based in Gurugram, is a start-up for online train ticket bookings authorised by IRCTC and was established by Vineet Chirania and Karan Kumar, graduates of IIT Roorkee. The company recently secured $ 1 million in its latest round of funding from a group of US investors, including Goodwater Capital, Hem Angels, and others.

The significance of this transaction lies in the fact that it marks the return of the expanding Adani Group to the mergers and acquisitions arena, following a critical report published against the group by US-based short seller Hindenburg in January. The short seller accused the Adani Group of fraud and governance failures, allegations that the conglomerate, known for its involvement in cooking oil-to-ports operations, has refuted.

In response to the Hindenburg report, the Adani Group scaled back its ambitions. Additionally, it reportedly abandoned plans to expand into petrochemicals and establish a coal-to-polyvinyl chloride project in Mundra.

In February, the Adani Group's Rs 70 billion deal to acquire thermal power assets of DB Power fell apart after multiple deadline extensions for completing the transaction expired. In April, the group's proposed acquisition of Air Works, an aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) company, faced delays due to the forced liquidation of a major shareholder in the target entity.

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Adani Enterprises, the leading business of the Adani Group, announced that it intended to purchase the entire equity of Stark Enterprises (SEPL), the operator of the online train booking platform Trainman. The value of the transaction was not disclosed by the company. According to a stock exchange notification from Adani Enterprises, Adani Digital Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has entered into a share purchase agreement for the proposed acquisition of the complete stake in Stark Enterprises. SEPL, based in Gurugram, is a start-up for online train ticket bookings authorised by IRCTC and was established by Vineet Chirania and Karan Kumar, graduates of IIT Roorkee. The company recently secured $ 1 million in its latest round of funding from a group of US investors, including Goodwater Capital, Hem Angels, and others. The significance of this transaction lies in the fact that it marks the return of the expanding Adani Group to the mergers and acquisitions arena, following a critical report published against the group by US-based short seller Hindenburg in January. The short seller accused the Adani Group of fraud and governance failures, allegations that the conglomerate, known for its involvement in cooking oil-to-ports operations, has refuted. In response to the Hindenburg report, the Adani Group scaled back its ambitions. Additionally, it reportedly abandoned plans to expand into petrochemicals and establish a coal-to-polyvinyl chloride project in Mundra. In February, the Adani Group's Rs 70 billion deal to acquire thermal power assets of DB Power fell apart after multiple deadline extensions for completing the transaction expired. In April, the group's proposed acquisition of Air Works, an aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) company, faced delays due to the forced liquidation of a major shareholder in the target entity. Also read: MSL Secures Rs 1 bn contract for Vande Bharat trains component supply Bengaluru Metro to Expand Tracks to Speed Up Trains