NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Sept. 10 -- Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) tapped external equity investors for the first time to raise Rs.9,825 crore (just over $1 billion) to build a war chest ahead of an impending privatisation of 11 airports by the Indian government. Marquee private equity investors Alpha Wave Global, Premji Invest, Temasek and BlackRock-managed funds will invest the capital in three tranches by July 2027 for a 5.54% stake in the private airport company. The transaction values the operator of eight airports including Mumbai and Ahmedabad at $18 billion pre-money, according to a press release issued by Adani on Wednesday. That translates to a post-money valuation of about $19 billion for the company, which is expected to be the next Adani entity to head for a public market listing. Adani Airports is more valuable than marquee operators Aeroport de Paris, valued at $12.5 billion, and Heathrow Airport Holdings, valued at $11.8 billion. The world's most valuable airport operators include Spanish government-owned Aena, which has a market capitalization of $46 billion, and Thai government-owned Airports of Thailand, valued at $28 billion. Its valuation is almost twice the market capitalization of listed peer GMR Airports Ltd, which stood at just over Rs.1 trillion (about $10.8 billion) on Wednesday morning. "The higher valuation for Adani Airport, as compared to rival GMR Airports, comes primarily on account of the sharp growth that the airport operator is expecting from non-aeronautical revenues. This includes the investment that Adani is making in city-side development projects," said Ankita Shah, vice president at brokerage firm Elara Securities. AAHL's first primary equity raise from external investors provides a fresh institutional valuation benchmark for a business that has so far funded its expansion through internal accruals, debt and project-level financing. The investor consortium includes players with aviation exposure. Premji Invest, the investment arm of Azim Premji, is an investor in SNV Aviation-owned Akasa Air, having participated in the 2025 fundraise of $125 million. Its investment in AAHL gives Premji Invest exposure to both an airline and an airport operator. Temasek is the majority shareholder in Singapore Airlines, which owns 25.1% of Air India....