'Amused, our name comes up in every deal': GQG's Rajiv Jain says didn't buy single Vedanta share

Star investor Rajiv Jain said GQG had no role in Vedanta's block deal, expressing amusement over the constant speculation of his firm's involvement in all major block deals happening in India.

About 2.6% of Vedanta's total equity or 9.4 crore shares changed hands earlier this February in large trades valued at over ₹2,600 crore. Promoter entity Finsider International divested 1.8% in that transaction worth ₹1,737 crore, triggering rumours that GQG was one of the buyers. Jain, however, denied this in a interview to CNBC-TV 18 on Wednesday.

Jain told the channel GQG was not "involved" at all. "There's no point denying every deal, there's a deal every week," he said, adding that GQG didn't buy a single Vedanta share. Jain, whose firm manages investments worth $22 billion in India, said the country's earnings growth has been the best among Emerging Markets over the last five years and that this growth "does not get its proper due".

He further added that there are very few large Emerging Markets with India's growth profile. On PSU stocks, Jain said they were an attractive investment due to improved management and strong long-term growth prospects.

The BSE PSU index has surged over 21 percent, so far, this year against a mere 1 percent rise in the benchmark Sensex.

Jain, who surprised the market by picking stakes in Adani group of companies when they were being hammered post Hindenburg, regrets not buying shares of state-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in early 2023 due to limited liquidity. "We would have loved to buy LIC early last year, but we could not find any blocks," he told CNBC-TV18.

GQG Partners manages global and emerging market equities for institutions, advisors, and individuals worldwide. It hit the headlines last year when it invested over Rs 15,000 crore in Adani stocks in early March amid devastation triggered by the Hindenburg report.