Sebi probes FPO investors’ links with Adani

MUMBAI:  The stock market regulator is investigating if the anchor investors who participated in Adani Group’s aborted Rs 20,000 crore share sale have any links with the conglomerate. “The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is looking into the background of some anchor investors to check if they are related or connected with Adani Group,” said a source, adding Sebi wants to know if there was a conflict of interest in the follow-on public offer (FPO) process. The regulator is also perusing the allegations of fraud levelled by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, the source added. 

According to Sebi rules, any entity which is related to the founder of a company that is coming out with an FPO is barred from applying under the anchor investor category. Two Mauritius-based firms, Great International Tusker Fund and Ayushmat which participated in the FPO, are under the regulator’s scanner. The former was allotted 2.47% or 4,51,772 shares for Rs 148 crore while the latter was given 2.32% or 4,24,525 shares for Rs 139 crore under the under the anchor portion of the FPO.

Sebi is also probing Elara Capital and Monarch Networth Capital, which Hindenburg alleged were engaging in “circuitous trading and manipulation of Adani Group stocks”. According to Hindenburg, an Adani firm had a small ownership stake in Monarch, which has previously worked as a bookrunner for the group, terming it ‘an obvious conflict of interest’. The Adani group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements. 

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