Gautam Adani-led Adani Group is heading for its worst week since late February as the deletion of two of its entities from the indexes of MSCI and concerns over potential dilution from a fundraising plan have wiped out $10.1 billion in market value.
The group’s market capitalisation slid to $107 billion this week, with Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission — two stocks to be dropped by MSCI — headed for their worst weeks since late February. The MSCI exclusions will probably trigger around $390 million of selling by global passive funds later this month, according to Brian Freitas, an independent equities analyst who publishes on Smartkarma.
Flagship firm Adani Enterprises, incubator for many of the group’s investments, is also set for a weekly loss of almost 4%, the most since March. The company and its transmission unit last week flagged plans to raise $2.6 billion in a qualified institutional placement or other modes, triggering concerns of equity dilution.
“If the shares are priced too low in a QIP issue, it could be seen as a sign of weakness or desperation,” Arpit Shah, a fund manager at Care Portfolio Managers said by email.
Fraud allegations by Hindenburg Research in January wiped out over $150 billion from the group’s market value by late February. The losses were trimmed during the past two months as emerging market investor GQG Partners in early March bought stakes in four entities.
Adani has denied Hindenburg’s allegations, while taking steps in the aftermath of the report to assuage investor concerns over debt and corporate governance.
