Fortitude Trade and Investment sells 3.04% stake in Adani Transmission; Goldman Sachs' GQG buys

A promoter group entity of Adani Transmission on Friday divested its entire 3.04 per cent stake in the firm for Rs 2,666 crore through an open market transaction. Following the stake sale, Fortitude Trade and Investment, a promoter group entity of Adani Transmission exited from the firm by offloading more than 3.39 crore shares of the firm.

According to the bulk deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Fortitude Trade and Investment disposed of 3,39,17,200 shares, amounting to 3.04 per cent stake in Adani Transmission.

The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 786.17 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 2,666.46 crore. As of March 2023, the promoter shareholding has been reduced to 68.61 per cent from 71.65 per cent.

Goldman Sachs Trust II - Goldman Sachs GQG Partners International Opportunities Fund and GQG Partners Emerging Markets Equity Fund acquired more than 2.13 crore shares of Adani Transmission at an average price of Rs 786.19 per share.

While GQG Partners International Opportunities Fund bought 1.40 crore shares at a price of Rs 786.17 per share for a buy value of Rs 1,105 crore, while GQG Partners Emerging Markets Equity Fund acquired 72.59 lakh shares at Rs786.19 per share for Rs 570 crore.

This took the combined transaction value to Rs 1,676 crore. 

Shares of Adani Transmission plunged 6.26 per cent to settle at Rs 767.85 per piece on the NSE.

On Wednesday, US-based boutique investment firm GQG Partners and other investors bought close to $1 billion worth of stocks in Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy -- from the founding family of Adani in large block trades.

GQG Partners has been ramping up its investment in the conglomerate ever since Hindenburg Research in a bombshell report alleged accounting fraud and stock price manipulation at the Group, triggering a stock market rout that had erased about $150 billion in its market value at its lowest point.

Adani Group has denied all allegations by Hindenburg and is plotting a comeback strategy that includes recasting its ambitions, scrapping acquisitions, pre-paying debt to address concerns about its cash flows and borrowings and scaling back its pace of spending on new projects.

In March, promoters sold stakes worth Rs 15,446 crore ($1.87 billion) in four group companies to GQG Partners.

GQG ramped up that investment with an additional purchase of shares worth $400-500 million in May.