Adani Group stocks plunge sharply - Here's how it will affect billionaire businessman Gautam Adani

Shares of companies controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani shed more than $6 billion on Monday (June 14) after reports of accounts of three foreign investor funds that own stocks had been frozen. Adani Enterprises closed 6.3 per cent down after plunging as much as 25 per cent - the steepest fall in nearly a decade.

Shares of Adani Ports ended down 8.5 per cent after falling as much as 19 per cent, while Adani Green Energy suffered most losses to end slightly lower, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission and Adani Power shed 5 per cent.

According to the Forbes real-time billionaires list, Gautam Adani has lost over $4 billion after his listed companies took a massive intraday hit on the stock market. As per the list, his wealth has decreased to $70.8 billion.

In terms of market capitalisation, Adani Group’s listed companies have seen an erosion of over Rs 1 lakh crore or over 10 per cent. However, the fall in market capitalisation is a fraction of what the combined group has achieved since last year.

Adani Group stocks suffered massive losses after The Economic Times reported that three Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) accounts were frozen by the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) on account of “insufficient disclosure” of information regarding beneficial ownership under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The report also indicated the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has initiated an investigation to find out if there has been price manipulation in shares of the Adani group companies.

The funds are among the top foreign investors in Adani group companies, based on data from stock exchanges and company reports.

The Adani Group firms involved rejected reports about NSDL freezing the funds' accounts as "blatantly erroneous" in identical statements issued to stock exchanges.

The NSDL website showed it had frozen as of May 31 the accounts of Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund without citing a reason.

The Adani firms said they had received an e-mail from the "Registrar and Transfer Agent" dated June 14 saying "that the Demat Account in which the aforesaid funds hold the shares of the company were not frozen".

The NSDL and Sebi did not respond to requests for immediate comment, Reuters mentioned.

(With Reuters inputs)