The Adani Group on Friday sold around 3% stake in Adani Transmission through open market transactions to raise about ₹2,666 crore. US-headquartered investment firm GQG Partners – which had bought about $1-billion shares of two other Adani firms on Wednesday – purchased the entire lot, market participants said.
According to NSE bulk deals data, Fortitude Trade and Investment, a promoter of Adani Transmission, sold 33.9 million shares, or a 3.04% stake, in the company for ₹2,666.47 crore at ₹786.19 apiece.
While NSE data showed that GQG Partners bought 21.3 million of these shares for ₹1,676 crore, sources said the entire lot was purchased by the US fund.
On Wednesday, GQG invested in Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy after promoter entities sold stakes in the two companies via bulk deals to raise ₹8,372 crore. The US-based fund increased its stake from 3.39% to 4.96% in Adani Enterprises, and from 3.5% to 6.32% in Adani Green, sources told ET.
GQG had first invested ₹15,446 crore in four Adani Group companies on March 2, taking a contrarian bet on the ports-to-cooking oil conglomerate when its shares had taken a beating following a report by a US-based short-seller that accused the group of illegal stock price manipulation.
The Adani Group has denied all allegations.
In subsequent weeks, the fund increased its stake in the Adani Group by around 10% by buying shares in the open market, Rajiv Jain, founder and chief investment officer of GQG Partners, told media.
In a call with investors in March in Australia, where GQG is listed, Jain had indicated the fund’s keenness to increase investment in the billionaire Gautam Adani-led conglomerate.
“Chances are, we’ll probably buy more because we typically initiate a position and then depending on how things go and how the earnings come through, we tend to get it to full size because we’re not at full size at this point,” Jain had told reporters a week after buying into the Adani Group in March.
The conglomerate’s stocks have been on a recovery path from their lows since GQG’s investment.
