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Billionaire Gautam Adani’s group on Monday listed out details of the $2.87-billion stake sales in group firms since 2019 and how $2.55 billion of this was ploughed back into business, as it looked to counter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim of Rs 20,000 crore coming in to the conglomerate through ‘shell companies’.
While investors such as Abu Dhabi-based global strategic investment firm International Holding Company PJSC (IHC) invested $2.593 billion in group firms such as Adani Enterprise and Adani Green Energy (AGEL), promoters sold stake in Adani Total Gas and AGEL to raise $2.783 billion. “These funds were reinvested by promoter entities to support the growth of new business and in portfolio companies such as Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and SEZ, Adani Transmission and Adani Power,” the group said.
The statement was issued rebutting reports in an international publication, which apparently was the basis of Gandhi’s statement late last month questioning how “Rs 20,000 crore suddenly arrived in Adani’s shell companies.” “We understand the competitive race to tear down Adani can be alluring. But we are fully compliant with securities laws and are not obscuring promoter ownership and financing,” it said. Adani said promoters in January 2021 raised $2 billion through the sale of 20 per cent stake in renewable energy firm, AGEL to French giant TotalEnergies. Prior to that, they had sold a 37.4 per cent stake in city gas arm, Adani Total Gas to the same French firm for $783 million.
It said the funds came from sale of stake in Adani Total Gas. Also, they weren’t obscure entities as they are promoter held. TotalEnergies bought overseas investment vehicles of the promoters to make some of those investments.
And the funds so received overseas were ploughed back into group entities, which is now being termed by some as investment by ‘shell companies’.
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Firm asks FT to take down report
The Adani Group has termed the March 22 Financial Times report on the conglomerate's offshore funding as “inaccurate”, “mendacious” and “making insinuations that are false and damaging”. In a strongly worded letter to the FT editor on April 10, shared with the exchanges, the group said the article has created a misleading narrative, misunderstanding in the markets, created reputational impact on the Adani firms and has become a political issue.
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