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In a much-needed relief to the Adani Group, US-based global equity investment firm GQG Partners has made investments worth ₹15,446 crore in four Adani group companies—Adani Ports and SEZ, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises—through secondary market transactions.
On Thursday morning, block deals were seen in the four companies with major chunks of equity ranging from 2.5-4.1 changing hands on the bourses. The seller was an Adani group promoter entity, SB Adani Family Trust.
A release by the Adani Group said that the secondary market transactions have made GQG a key investor in the development and growth of critical Indian infrastructure. GQG made the investments through its Emerging Markets Equity Fund, International Opportunities Fund (which is distributed by Goldman Sachs) and some other funds.
Selling stakes in some key portfolio companies gives Gautam Adani enough dry powder in the immediate term to meet some of the debt obligations of his group. Senior officials have been assuring investors that it would be able to pay overseas bonds’ dues as they mature through loans from foreign banks, while a bridge loan taken to buy Holcim’s cement companies in India would be repaid by promoters.
Also read: Adani-Hindenburg saga: Supreme Court sets up panel to protect investor interest
The promoter entity has sold about 4.1 percent stake in Adani Ports, 3.5 percent in Adani Green Energy, 2.5 percent in Adani Transmission and another 3.5 percent in Adani Enterprises.
GQG Partners managed assets worth $92 billion as of January 31, 2023 and is listed on the Australian stock exchange.
GQG Partner’s chairman and chief investment officer Rajiv Jain was quoted in the statement as saying that he was excited to have initiated positions in the Adani companies. “Adani companies own and operate some of the largest and most important infrastructure assets throughout India and around the world.”
“We believe that the long-term growth prospects for these companies are substantial, and we are pleased to be investing in companies that will help advance India’s economy and energy infrastructure, including their energy transition over the long-run,” he said. Last week, he had spoken positively about the group in an interview with a television channel.
Adani Group’s Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh, who has been spearheading the group’s interfaces with the global investing community, said in the statement, “We value GQG’s role as a strategic investor in our infrastructure and utility portfolio of sustainable energy, logistics and energy transition.”
He added that the transaction was an affirmation of confidence of global investors in the “governance, management practices and the growth of Adani Portfolio of companies.”
Short-seller hedge fund Hindenberg Research had called into question the corporate governance and management practices of the Adani group, in a scathing report in January.
All Adani Group stocks were gainers on Thursday with four of them—Adani Transmission, Adani Power, Adani Green Energy and Adani Wilmar—locked in their upper circuit for the second consecutive day. Adani Enterprises ended up 2.8 percent higher while Adani Ports gained 3.5 percent on the NSE.
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