Adani's Airports business may get demerged in five years, unlock value: Cantor Fitzgerald

The analyst who initiated coverage on Adani Enterprises on Monday, projecting a 50% upside over the next 12 months, believes that the company's Airports business may get demerged over the next five years, thereby unlocking value for shareholders.

In an exclusive conversation with CNBC-TV18, Brett Knoblauch of Cantor Fitzgerald, the US-based brokerage said that Adani Enterprises is the first company in India on which they have initiated coverage.

The brokerage is "overweight" on Adani Group's flagship company and has ascribed a price target of ₹4,368 on the stock. In response, shares of Adani Enterprises shares ended 6% higher on Monday and are nearing their pre-Hindenburg report levels of ₹3,400.

Knoblauch said that as India is heavily investing in infrastructure, the Adani Group will be a prime beneficiary of the same. He expects the Airports business to be the best-performing segment of the company over the next five years.2

"This is a segment I think, can do a billion dollars plus of EBITDA within three or four years, so you could see, within three or four years at Adani Enterprises to demerge that business at a value close to $20 billion - $25 billion," he said.

Cantor Fitzgerald is projecting a valuation of ₹1,622 per share on the Airports business. He said that besides Airports, Green Hydrogen is the other most interesting business. Knoblauch also said that the green hydrogen opportunity for Adani Enterprises has not been factored into their current valuation projection.

In its report on Monday, Cantor Fitzgerald mentioned that Adani Enterprises is "too big to ignore" and that the country needs Adani as much as Adani needs the country.

Knoblauch said that Airports is a "very good, predictable" business and will act as a growth area for multiple decades.

Shares of Adani Enterprises ended at ₹3,061 on Monday, nearing their pre-Hindenburg levels of around ₹3,442.