Adani Stocks Cut Loss After Denying Freeze on Investor Accounts
Nupur Acharya and P R Sanjai, 14 June 2021
Shares of companies controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani recouped a part their day’s losses after refuting a local report that said accounts of three Mauritius-based funds that own the group’s stocks were frozen.
The Economic Times reported Monday that National Securities Depository Ltd. froze the accounts of Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund. It said the action was probably due to insufficient disclosure of information regarding beneficial ownership, citing people it didn’t identify. The report sparked a selloff in shares of six listed Adani firms before the ports-to-power conglomerate rebutted the claims.
In separate filings to Indian exchanges, Adani group companies said the report is “blatantly erroneous and is done to deliberately mislead the investing community.” The companies said they have confirmation from the Registrar and Transfer Agent that the demat account in which these funds hold the shares are not frozen.
A spokesperson for capital markets regulator Sebi didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments. National Securities Depository also didn’t repond to a request for comments.
The funds, registered at the same address in Port Louis, own more than 435 billion rupees ($6 billion) in four Adani group firms, the report said. Freezing of accounts would mean the funds won’t be able to sell or buy new securities.
