IHC Maintains Steady Outlook on Adani Group Investments
International Holding Co's (IHC) view on investing in India's Adani Group has not changed, the Abu Dhabi conglomerate said after the U.S. indictment of billionaire Gautam Adani.
"Our partnership with the Adani Group reflects our confidence in their contributions to the green energy and sustainability sectors", IHC said in a statement on Wednesday.
"As with all of our investments, our team continues to evaluate relevant information and developments. In light of this our views on these investments has not changed".
Last week the US authorities charged Adani his nephew and executive director Sagar Adani and the Adani Green's managing director, Vneet S. Jaain, had entered into a scheme whereby it would pay $ 265 million bribes, so that they could buy contracts to provide Indian with electric power.
The ports-to-power conglomerate dismissed the allegations as 'without any merit' and stated that it would pursue 'all possible legal recourse'.
In October last year, IHC increased its shareholding in Adani Enterprises to over 5 per cent following a sell-off of its holdings in two other Adani firms. The IHC then stated Adani Enterprises, the flagship company, was 'uniquely positioned to benefit from India's resilient growth trajectory'.
The increased investment came after short seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate in January last year of stock manipulation and significantly high debt levels. Adani Group denied those allegations.
Adani and an IHC subsidiary last year formed a technology joint venture to create a platform to use AI and enterprise blockchain products to work on the digitisation of the Indian economy.
Adani Green, the company against which the indictment was filed, said Gautam Adani had been charged in the United States for alleged violations of securities law and faced potential fines but had not been charged under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In a stock exchange filing, Adani Green said a complaint by U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission sought "an order directing the defendants to pay civil monetary penalties (but) it does not quantify the amount of penalty".
