Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) on Monday picked up a 2.7% stake in Adani Green Energy (AGEL) in a block deal worth Rs 3,920 crore ($474 million), nearly a month after the renewable energy firm raised funds from GQG Partners and other investors.
The move is a sign of investor confidence in Adani Group companies, after a report by Hindenburg Research in January resulted in the conglomerate losing nearly half of its market capitalisation.
QIA, a sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, bought 42.6 million shares in a bulk deal at an average of Rs 920 a share. The shares were acquired through its wholly owned subsidiary INQ Holding, while Infinite Trade and Investment, a promoter entity of AGEL was the seller, according to stock exchange data.
AGEL’s promoter entity sold 44.88 million shares, amounting to a 2.83% stake, at Rs 920.43 a share. This amounted to Rs 4,131 crore ($500 million). After the bulk deal, Infinite Trade and Investment’s holding fell to 0.57% from 3.37%. As of June 30, the total promoter holding in AGEL was at 56.27%.
Shares of Adani Green fell 12.5% during intra-day trade on Monday, and closed down 4.69% at Rs 965.05 on the BSE.
AGEL, the renewable energy arm of Adani Group, had an operational capacity of 8,316 MW as of June-end. This was following the addition of 1,750 MW solar-wind hybrid, 212 MW solar and 554 MW wind power plants over the last one year. The company aims to build 45 GW (45,000 MW) of capacity by FY30.
This is the second investment by QIA in an Adani Group company. In 2020, Adani Transmission (now Adani Energy Solutions) raised Rs 3,220 crore in lieu of a 25.10% stake in Adani Electricity Mumbai.
In July, the Adani family raised $1.38 billion (Rs 11,330 crore) through stake sales in three portfolio companies: AGEL, Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission. The fundraise was to ensure higher capital availability at the group level, which was to be used for growth and near-term commitments, including debt, over the next 12-18 months.
In June, US investment firm GQG Partners and other investors bought shares worth Rs 11,000 crore in the three companies through block deals, mainly from Adani group family firms. Prior to that, in March, GQG acquired stakes worth Rs 15,446 crore in four Adani group companies, and later in May it purchased further shares worth $400-500 million.