Almost three months after its initial investment in the embattled Adani Group, US-based GQG Partners has pumped in another $330 million-$530 million into these companies. In March, Rajiv Jain-controlled GQG Partners had initially invested Rs 15,446 crore ($1.87 billion) in four Adani group companies. “Our overall shareholding in all companies is higher than March 3," Rajiv Jain, Chairman, CIO and portfolio manager GQG Partners, told Bloomberg News. “The total investment is close to $2.2-2.4 billion approximately in over a dozen separate accounts....we own these (shares) in multiple accounts," he added.
Though Jain didn't clarify whether GQG made the recent purchase from the open market.
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On March 2, the Adani Group said that GQG Partners had invested Rs 15,446 crore ($1.87 billion then) in flagship Adani Enterprises (Rs 5,460 crore), Adani Ports & SEZ (Rs 5,282 crore), Adani Transmission (Rs 1,898 crore), and Adani Green Energy (Rs 2,806 crore).
Jain further said that due to constant recovery in Adani Group stocks post the Hindenburg blow, the value of GQG's investment has already reached close to $3.5 billion, Jain told Bloomberg.
“Within five years, we would like to be one of the largest investors in Adani Group, depending on the valuation, after the family," Jain added.
As Adani group shares have rallied in the past couple of months, the value of GQG’s Adani holdings has risen by 58 per cent to Rs 24,414.59 crore ($2.95 billion) in less than 100 days, which was mainly due to recovery in Adani Enterprises and Adani Green share prices.
Since the closing of March 2, the four Adani Group companies have rallied anywhere between 20-75 per cent.
Jain’s investment in the Adani Group came at a time when most investors were jittery following the Hindenburg Research report in late January. The US-based short seller accused the Adani Group of fraud and stock manipulation. Though Adani Group has denied all allegations, it paid heavily. Investigation in the case is still pending with markets regulator Sebi report on the issue is yet to come out.
The Adani Group has been trying to win back investors’ confidence. Earlier in May, the boards of Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission have passed resolutions to raise up to Rs 12,500 crore and Rs 8,500 crore, respectively, via qualified institutional placements (QIPs). Adani Green is also reportedly planning to raise $500 million-$700 million via a separate QIP.
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The decision to raise funds through the QIP route is yet another measure by the Gautam Adani-led business house to send a strong signal to the markets—that the Hindenburg issue or the ongoing developments at the Supreme Court will not hamper its business plans. Interestingly, the past few months have seen the conglomerate repay its bondholders and release share pledges worth a total of $3 billion.
The numbers for the final quarter of FY 2023 of all the listed group entities that have reported their results have been strong, with most of them beating street estimates. Moreover, if shareholding details of the Adani firms are anything to go by, it seems that investors have also shown confidence in the group, with the quantum of retail investors’ stake in all the nine listed firms having increased between December 2022 and March 2023.
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