The promoters of the Adani Group led by billionaire Gautam Adani will continue to pare holdings in group companies in the coming months to create a liquidity buffer that can be deployed to tap new opportunities and infuse equity in various units, said people aware of the matter.
The promoters have so far sold stakes to US-based GQG Partners and are in discussions with other global investors to potentially divest more, they said.
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“Promoters have in principle decided to prune their stakes in various listed group companies through a combination of primary and secondary stake sales,” said one of the persons cited. “They are of the view that building cash reserves is the best way forward given the uncertain global investment environment.”
Talks are underway with a number of investors and the next transaction with a West Asia-based fund is likely by September, the person added.
The Adani Group didn’t respond to queries.
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Group’s priorities include infrastructure assets, green energy projects
It also didn’t respond to a query on how it plans to use the proceeds of the last round of equity sales by the promoters.
The Adani family holds upwards of 60% in all the group’s listed companies except Adani Green Energy and ACC Ltd.
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The promoters trimmed their stakes in recent months after selling shares worth around $3 billion to GQG Partners in multiple transactions starting March, with the latest sale on June 30. Promoter entity Fortitude Trade and Investment sold its entire 3.04% stake in Adani Transmission for about Rs 2,665 crore through bulk deals.
Within days of the US-based fund‘s first investment of $1.87 billion in Adani Group companies, the promoters had repaid loans worth $2.15 billion that had been taken by pledging shares in the conglomerate’s listed firms.
With nearly all the share pledges released, the promoters are now focussing on building a liquidity buffer, said the people cited above.
In late January, US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research had published a report accusing the Adani Group of fraud and stock price manipulation using offshore entities. The Adani Group denied all allegations. Its stocks plunged but have recouped some of those losses since then.
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Among the group’s priorities are infrastructure assets such as ports and airports as well as green energy projects, particularly newer technologies such as green hydrogen among others.
