Alleged irregularities in the trading of demerged shares of Adani Enterprises (AEL) on the stock exchanges on Wednesday caused panic among the investors thereby prompting them to approach SEBI, complaining against the exchanges.
Trading after cut-off date
Adani Enterprises had announced its demerger and scheme of arrangement earlier this year. However, even after the cut-off date for trading in AEL shares on Tuesday, the demerged shares on Wednesday opened at ₹574.25 on the BSE and ₹573.30 on the NSE.
Investors alleged irregularities in the opening trades in the scrip, which adjusted to around ₹120 only at around 10 a.m., thereby causing panic among investors. The Investors’ Grievances Forum (IGF) filed a complaint with SEBI alleging that the trading of demerged shares of AEL was not done with the adjusted price.
AEL shares fell almost 83 per cent to an intraday low of ₹106.35 on the NSE before closing at ₹111.15. The share price reflected the post-demerged value of AEL.
Norms thrown to winds
According to the scheme of arrangement of demerger, for every 10,000 AEL shares, investors would get 14,123 shares of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, 18,596 shares of Adani Power and one share of Adani Transmission.
In its complaint, IGL wrote, “By brushing aside and throwing all the norms which should have been observed by the bourses, the shares of Adani Enterpirses were allowed to be traded by the exchanges in a most shocking manner.”
A large number of gullible investors, who have bought shares at the higher prices, have been trapped resulting into losses to them, it further alleged.
However, when approached, the NSE said “no comments to make on the matter”. BSE too declined to comment on the issue.
‘Faulty mechanism’
The AEL spokesperson, however, maintained that on the company’s part, it “had fully complied by making required announcements well in advance about the demerger and record date to the investors and to the exchanges”.
“The fall in share prices had nothing to do with the company; rather it shows that the mechanism at the exchange level was faulty or they did not take timely measures in spite of knowing about the demerger,” AEL added.
Meanwhile, the IGF maintained that the bourses should have held a special session for discovery of price of Adani Enterprises or should have sought proper valuation of shares for adjusting the share prices.
Seeking an inquiry and immediate action from the regulator, IGF said going by “the manner in which trading took place in Adani Enterprises, addition of scrips in F&O, changes in Nifty components, etc, the state of affairs at the exchanges needs to be examined.”