GQG Partners buys 8.1% stake in Adani Power for $1.1 bln - source (updated)

GQG Partners

16/08/2023 15:13

(Adds details, background on GQG's previous investment)
    By Aditya Kalra
       BENGALURU, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Investment firm GQG
Partners bought an 8.1% stake in India's Adani Power  ADAN.NS 
for $1.1 billion via block deals on Wednesday, a source with
direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
    Multiple GQG funds bought around 152.1 million shares, as
per data from BSE, one of India's top stock exchanges, from
Worldwide Emerging Market Holding and Afro ASIA Trade And
Investments.
    Adani Power and GQG did not immediately respond to Reuters'
request seeking comments.
    The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based GQG has made several
other investments in the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate's
companies previously.
    The investment comes days after Deloitte quit as auditor for
one of the conglomerate's key business units, renewing investor
concerns even as the group slowly recovers from a report by U.S.
short-seller Hindenburg Research, released in January.
    The report, which alleged improper use of tax havens and
concerns over the conglomerate's debt levels - something it
denies - wiped out nearly $147 billion from the market cap of
the group's listed entities. 
    Though shares of the group companies have rebounded, they
are still down around $100 billion in value.
    Adani Ports had said that Deloitte's reason for quitting as
its auditor was "not convincing or sufficient to warrant such a
move.
     Meanwhile, India's market regulator has sought 15 more days
to complete a probe into the Adani Group's dealings with certain
offshore entities. 
    

 (Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi and Sethuraman NR in
Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
 ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 9945291420); Reuters
Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))