Stocks in several of the Indian conglomerate’s companies took a hit following the National Securities Depository’s announcement it had frozen the accounts of three of its stakeholders
Shares of India’s Adani group companies bounced back on Monday after they had been forced to deny reports the accounts of three of its top stakeholders had been frozen.
Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the group controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, had plunged as much as 25%, its steepest fall in nearly a decade. Nifty 50-listed Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone fell as much as 19% before paring losses.
The National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) had said on its website that it had frozen the accounts of Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund, without citing a reason.
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The Adani Group companies then issued identical statements to the country’s stock exchanges, saying reports about the NSDL freezing the funds’ accounts were “blatantly erroneous”.
NSDL handles securities in the Indian capital market, similar to holding funds in bank accounts, with transfers done through simple account transactions, according to its website.
A report in India’s Economic Times on Monday said the freeze on the three accounts could be because of insufficient disclosure of information related to beneficial ownership.
The three funds feature among Adani’s top 12 investors and owned about 2.1% to 8.91% stakes in five Adani Group companies as of March 31, 2020, annual investor presentations show.
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The value of their stakes in Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green, Adani Transmission and Adani Total Gas Ltd had spiked over 10-fold since end-March 2020 to 569.32 billion rupees ($7.78 billion) as of Friday.
Shares of Adani Enterprises had risen more than 10-fold in the past year up until Friday, while Adani Transmission shares gained more than eight-fold and Adani Total Gas Ltd shares have jumped 1,114%.
Adani Ports Ltd has risen 148%, while Adani Green has grown 267% and Adani Power has jumped nearly four-fold over the past year.
- Reporting by Reuters
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