GQG shares plunge after billionaire Adani is charged over US$250m bribery scheme
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The news: Fund manager GQG’s share price plunged following an announcement that it's reviewing its investments in Adani Group after US prosecutors charged the company’s chair Gautam Adani over an alleged USD250 million ($383.6 million) bribe.
The numbers: Shares in GQG, which has USD159.4 billion in funds under management, had plummeted 10.6% to $2.36 by 1:17pm AEDT. Over the last 12 months its share price has surged 59.06%.
The context: GQG said it was “monitoring” the charges brought against Adani and other Adani Group executives and companies.
Adani is one of the world’s richest people and had been indicted in New York in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme, according to multiple media reports.
Authorities alleged Adani and seven other defendants agreed to pay about USD265 million in bribes to Indian government officers to obtain contracts to develop India’s largest solar power plant project. The contracts were expected to yield USD2 billion in profit over 20 years.
Adani Group owns and operates several mining and infrastructure assets in Queensland.
What they said: “Our team is reviewing the emerging details and determining what, if any, actions for our portfolios are appropriate,” GQG said.
“We note that, consistent with our portfolio construction guidelines, GQG portfolios make diversified investments and in aggregate in excess of 90% of our clients’ assets are invested in issuers unrelated to the Adani Group.”
The sources: ASX announcement, Bloomberg, Reuters
