French energy giant TotalEnergies said on Friday that its investments in Adani group entities were undertaken in full compliance with Indian laws and its own internal governance processes.
In a press release, it said due diligence was “consistent with best practices, and all relevant material in the public domain was reviewed, including the detailed disclosures to regulators required under applicable laws”. It welcomed Adani’s decision to mandate a ‘Big Four’ accounting firm to carry out a general audit.
TotalEnergies clarified that its exposure to the group entities is limited, and represents just 2.4% ($3.1 billion as of December 31, 2022) of the company’s capital employed and only $180 million of net operating income in 2022.
TotalEnergies has not re-evaluated its stakes in ATGL and AGEL in relation to the increase in their stock values, these being accounted for under the equity method, it added in the release. It stated in the release that it holds a 50% stake in Adani Total, 37.4% in Adani Total Gas, and 19.75% in Adani Green Energy.
Further, it said that day-to-day operations of the listed entities — Adani Total Gas (ATGL) and Adani Green Energy (AGEL) — are managed by independent teams, and their boards consisted of at least 50% independent and non-executive directors.
In 2018, TotalEnergies and Adani Group had sealed an energy partnership with the development of a joint LNG business Adani Total (ATPL), which seeks to the Dhamra LNG regasification terminal. Later, in 2019, TotalEnergies acquired 37.4% of Adani Total Gas.
In 2020, the relationship strengthened after TotalEnergies acquired a minority interest of 20% in Adani Green Energy, as well as 50% of AGEL’s 2.35 GWac (gigawatts AC power) operating solar assets portfolio for $2.5 billion.