The indictment filed in the US against the Ad. Group alleges that a bribery scheme was org.zed by the Ad. Group. The motive behind this scheme was to obtain solar energy contracts by bribing Indian officials.
Ad. Green Energy, a flagship company of the Ad. Group, through which the bribes were allegedly paid, had secured various contracts to supply significant quantities of solar energy in the year 2020. According to US prosecutors, Ad. Group had raised funds from US investors for its solar project and while raising this money, details of solar power contracts awarded in India were hidden from the investors. According to this claim, the bribery conspiracy was hatched between December 2019 and July 2020. In the same period, Ad. Green Energy and another company listed on the New York Stock Exchange won large solar power contracts from Solar Energy Corporation of India, the state-owned company that promotes solar energy in India.
According to a New York Times report at the time, Ad. Green Energy claimed that the solar power supply contract it had won was the largest of its kind in the world. Under the contract, a total of $6 billion was to be invested over a period of 20 years, and Ad. Green Energy claimed the project would generate after-tax profits of $2 billion, as claimed in the indictment. According to a New York Times report, investors were also unaware that the power generated from the project would be expensive for Indian states and that the Indian Solar Energy Corporation was struggling to sell power to Indian states. Therefore, it has been alleged that the Ad. Group had bribed government officials to persuade various states to buy this power. In June, 2020, Ad. Green Energy announced that it had won a first-of-its-kind solar power supply contract linked to generation from the Solar Energy Corporation of India. Under this contract, the company also announced to set up an 8 GW solar project and an additional 2 GW capacity solar cell and module manufacturing unit. Under this contract the company will pay a total of Rs 50 crore. An investment of Rs 45,000 crore i.e. 6 billion dollars had to be made. The company also claimed that the project would create 4 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities and prevent 900 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Of the 10 comp.es of the Ad. Group, the mutual fund has Rs. investment of 43,455 crores
Mutual Funds of India At the end of July, 2024, the 10 listed comp.es of Ad. Group had raised a total of Rs. Shares worth Rs 41,814 crore, which increased to Rs. 43,455 crores. Information about how much the price of Ad. Group’s shares has fallen due to today’s uproar will be known only on November 22. Last month, mutual funds (MFs) had bought 46 lakh shares of Ad. Enterprises. In October, mutual funds added millions of shares of the company to their portfolios. In September, mutual funds held 2.50 crore shares of Ad. Enterprises. The number of shares has increased to 2.96 crore due to the investment made in October.
Ad. Group cancels $600 million bond issue after US allegations
Ad. Group units have canceled bonds worth $600 million after prominent Indian businessman Gautam Ad. was accused of paying bribes in the US. Ad. Group had priced the related bond offering hours before the press release issued by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission was revealed, but following the allegations, the group informed investors that the bonds would be cancelled.
Kenyan President cancels deal with Ad. Group
Following allegations against Ad. Group in the US, Kenyan President William Ruto today ordered the cancellation of a deal with Ad. Group to expand the country’s main airport and lay a $700 million power transmission line.
Vedanta stops bond sale after Ad. case
Vedanta Resources Ltd., controlled by Indian billionaire .l Agarwal, is reevaluating the timing of the dollar bond sale. The market went into turmoil as soon as the Ad. Group founder was charged with bribery and fraud in the US. Mining major Vedanta had called fixed income investors to discuss a possible bond offering, but the company is now eyeing deals as early as next week.
Shares of GQG Partners, a major investor in the Ad. Group, fell 25 percent after the Hindenburg attack.
After the Hindenburg report came out in November 2023 and Ad. Group’s shares fell, US-based investment firm GQG Partners played a major role in saving the group. However, today, after Ad. Group was charged with bribery and fraud in the US, the company also suffered losses and its Australian-listed shares fell 25 per cent. The company has acquired Ad. Group comp.es including Ad. Ports, Ad. Green Energy and Ad. Enterprises in March 2023. Investment of Rs 15,546 crore started in Ad. Group and now this investment has increased to Rs 15,546 crore. Has reached Rs 80,000 crore. The head of this investment firm is Indian origin Rajiv Jain. However, following this development, GQG Partners has now said that it will review its investment in Ad. Group.
