Sebi probing Adani’s links with investors in aborted $2.5 billion FPO

NEW DELH: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is investigating Adani Group’s links to some of the investors in the conglomerate’s aborted $2.5 billion share sale, two sources said, amid growing concern about a US short-seller’s allegations against one of the country’s top industrial groups.

Sebi is looking into any potential violation of securities laws or any conflict of interest in the share sale process, said the two sources who have direct knowledge of the matter. The watchdog is investigating relationships between Adani and at least two Mauritius-based firms - Great International Tusker Fund and Ayushmat Ltd. - which participated as anchor investors, among others, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the probe.

Under capital and disclosure requirement rules, any entity related to a company’s founder or the founder group is ineligible to apply under the anchor investor category. One of the sources said the focus of the probe would be whether any of the anchor investors are “connected” to the founder group. Sebi and the Adani remained non-committal. Great International Tusker Fund and Ayushmat Ltd also did not respond to requests for comment.

Also under the Sebi scanner are Elara Capital and Monarch Networth Capital, two of the 10 investment banks that managed the share offering, the sources said, adding Sebi had approached the two firms last week. The roles of Elara and Monarch are being examined by the market watchdog to rule out “any conflict” in the share offering process, one of the sources said.