 "Gautam Adani, Adani")
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[This report has been updated]
The resurgence in Adani group stocks over the past year has resulted in substantial gains for their investors, including US-based GQG Partners, the Qatar Investment Authority, and Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company.
GQG Partners -- which had bought Adani shares worth Rs 35,774 crore in March 2023 a nearly couple of months after a Hindenburg Research report that was critical of the group -- has seen the value of its investment more than double to Rs 81,132 crore as of Friday’s closing.
The Qatar Investment Authority, which had invested Rs 4,300 crore in Adani Green Energy at Rs 923 per share in August 2023, now finds its stake to be worth Rs 9,650 crore, with the stock closing at Rs 1,925 per share on Friday.
Likewise, International Holding Company, which initially invested Rs 16,612 crore in Adani Enterprises in 2022 and subsequently increased its stake to 5 per cent in October last year, has seen the value of its investment rising to Rs 23,257 crore, with shares of Adani Enterprises closing at Rs 3,385 apiece on Friday.
Adani group shares had taken a hit following the report by the American short-seller in January 2023. However, group companies’ stocks recovered after the promoters sold shares in various group firms to GQG Partners and pre-paid their loans. This move reassured investors about the group’s financial position.
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A subsequent investigation by the markets regulator found no merit in Hindenburg’s allegations, which the Adani group had previously vehemently denied.
The Adani group shares, which had crashed after a report by the short seller Hindenburg Research in January 2023, recovered after the promoters sold their shares in various group companies to GQG Partners and pre-paid their loans, Various Adani group companies also pre-paid their loans thus convincing investors about their financial position. Later, a Sebi investigation did not find any merit in the Hindenburg allegations. The Adani group had denied all allegations made by Hindenburg.
The rally in Adani shares is seen as a significant victory for contrarian bets made by Rajiv Jain, chairman and chief investment officer of GQG Partners.
Jain, 56, who founded the firm in June 2016 after 23 years of investment experience, including as the co-chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Vontobel Asset Management, has seen his net worth estimated at $4.6 billion (on a real-time basis), according to Forbes.
In a media interview, Jain, who moved to the US in the 1990s, said there are only a few large emerging markets across the world and India is one of them. “India has seen one of the best earnings growth among all emerging markets over the past five years and I think this earnings growth does not get enough air time,” Jain told a TV channel in February this year. “…Earnings drive the markets and when corporate earnings are as strong as it has been, the markets will follow.”
Over the past year, GQG Partners has made investments in ITC, Patanjali Foods, GMR Airport Infrastructure, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.
An e-mail sent to GQG Partners on Friday did not receive a response.
