GQG Partners, a US-based boutique investment firm, along with other investors, has acquired approximately $1 billion worth of stocks in two firms of Adani Group through large block trades. The shares were sold by the founding family in block deals that took place on Wednesday, according to a PTI report. It says that on Thursday, the group's flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd saw 18 million shares, or 1.6 per cent, trade in a single block at the same time the renewable energy firm Adani Green Energy saw a total of 35.2 million shares, or 2.2 per cent, change hands on the exchange.
GQG Partners had earlier purchased shares worth $1.87 billion in four Adani group companies in March following the scathing report by a US short seller Hindenberg. The Adani Group repeatedly denied all the allegations, however, the company's stock took a beating at the exchange. On the other hand, Rajiv Jain led GQG Partners sequentially increased its stake in the group by $400-500 million in May.
As per PTI, it is also among the investors participating in the block deal to buy shares on Wednesday. The identity of other investors has not been confirmed yet.
A separate report by Bussines Standard said that the proceedings from the Wednesday block deal will be used by the promoters to pre-pay debt. The report citing banking sources said that the promoters have decided to reduce debt, both at the promoter level and at the company's level.
As per the BS report, to date, the promoters of the Adani group have raised $2.65 billion through the sale of shares and prepayment of debt. The group's listed companies are also actively reducing their debt and prioritising cash conservation by putting potential acquisitions on hold. An official from the company told Bussines Standard that the group plans to refinance its one-year tenure loans, which were taken for the cement firm acquisition, by the end of the year when the tenure expires. Discussions with bankers are underway to replace these one-year loans with three-year loans, as per the official. He also said that some of the group companies like Adani Ports have already started buying back bonds and it will buy back loans in four more tranches in coming year.
As per the report, shares of Adani Green Energy were trading marginally down at Rs 943 a share, while Adani Enterprises shares were trading 5 per cent up at Rs 2,393 a share.