GQG Partners, an investor in Adani group enterprises, is keeping an eye on bribery charges against Gautam Adani and other Adani group executives. The investment company's shares fell 18% to AUD $2.17 a share in Australian trading due to its investments in Adani Green Energy, which has previously raised more than $175 million in the US and is facing charges of bribery against Indian officials.
GQG has also made large investments in Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Power, Ambuja Cements, and Adani Ports, among other Adani Group firms.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, alleging that they induced US investors to buy Adani Green bonds through an offering process that misrepresented not only Adani Green's robust anti-bribery compliance program, but also that the company's senior management had not and would not pay, or promised to pay, bribes.
The SEC stated that during the alleged fraud, Adani Green raised more than $175 million from US investors, and Azure Power's shares was traded on the New York shares Exchange.
The SEC stated that the bribery plan allowed two renewable energy companies, Adani Green and Azure Power, to profit from a multibillion-dollar solar energy project awarded to them by the Indian government.
Earlier, US authorities indicted billionaire Gautam Adani and seven other senior corporate executives in connection with an alleged $250 million bribery scheme that they claimed was hidden from US investors.
The alleged scheme took place between 2020 and 2024, during which the defendants agreed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials in order to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts that were expected to generate more than $2 billion in profits after tax over the next 20 years.
Adani group stocks have suffered some selling recently, in line with the market's decline. The flagship Adani Enterprises has dropped 6% in the last month, compared to a 4.49 percent decrease in the BSE Sensex. Adani Ports fell 8.28%, Adani Power plummeted 14.29%, and Adani Energy Solutions dropped 16.53% within the same period. Adani Green Energy fell 18.65 percent. Adani Total Gas is down 8.36% in one month.
