- The huge Norwegian sovereign wealth fund has sold all its stakes in the companies of the Adani group.
- The fund began selling its stakes in Adani Group companies even before the recent sale began.
- Adani Group companies lost $110 billion in market capitalization in a short seller attack.
Norway’s huge sovereign wealth fund – the world’s largest stock market investor — sold all of its holdings in the companies of the Adani group.
“In the five weeks since the end of the year, we have further reduced our exposure to Adani companies significantly, and so today, for all intents and purposes, we no longer have any exposure,” said said Christopher Wright, head of the fund’s ESG risk oversight at a Press conference Thursday.
The fund — which manages assets worth $1.4 trillion – held stakes in Adani Total Gas, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone and Adani Green Energy at the end of 2022. Since the start of 2023, he has sold stakes worth just over $200 million in those societies, Wright said.
“We have been monitoring Adani Group companies for many years as part of our monitoring processes. Corporate governance is part of this monitoring, alongside many other ESG topics,” he added.
Adani Group companies are under huge pressure since US short seller Hindenburg Research issued a scathing statement report on January 24, alleging a “brazen scheme of stock manipulation and accounting fraud” at the conglomerate.
The Adani Group has denied the allegations, but shares in seven of its India-listed companies have been battered, losing around $110 billion in market capitalization, according to the latest. Reuters calculations.
But the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund had begun to divest itself of its stake in the companies of the Adani group since 2014, well before the recent massive sale.
Wright said the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund had divested from six companies linked to the Adani group, mainly for “reasons related to the management of environmental risks”.
Adani Group did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Shares of most Adani Group companies show mixed swings in early trading on Friday. Shares of the conglomerate’s flagship Adani Enterprises rose 1.1% after losing about half of their market value this year so far.