India's Adani Group seeks to settle regulatory charge of shareholding violations, ET reports (updated)

Adani Total Gas

03/12/2024 05:08

(Adds details, background)
       Dec 3 (Reuters) - Several entities linked to the Adani
Group have approached the India markets regulator seeking to
settle a case that accuses them of violating public shareholding
regulations at some listed companies, the Economic Times
reported on Tuesday.
    The Securities and Exchange Board Of India (SEBI) had sent
notices to Adani Enterprises  ADEL.NS , the group's flagship
company, as well as Adani Power  ADAN.NS , Adani Ports  APSE.NS 
and Adani Energy  ADAI.NS  alleging they had wrongfully
categorised the shareholding of certain entities.
    The groups' breaches of a minimum public shareholding
requirement date back to 2020 and the SEBI had sought to recover
about 25 billion rupees ($295 million) from the entities, ET
said.
    Adani Enterprises and one of its directors, Vinay Prakash,
as well as an Ambuja Cements  ABUJ.NS  director, Ameet Desai,
have proposed a settlement, ET reported.
    Another proposal for a 2.8-million-rupees ($33,035)
settlement is from Emerging India Focus Funds (EIFF), a
Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investor that the SEBI says is
linked to Vinod Adani, brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam
Adani, ET said.
    The report did not have information regarding other
settlement applications.
    The proposals were submitted last week in response to a
show-cause notice issued by the SEBI on Sept. 27 to about 30
Adani Group entities, the newspaper reported.
    The entities have contested the charges in response to the
notice and the settlement application is only a precautionary
measure, ET added, citing a source.
    The Adani Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment.
    Last month, U.S. authorities accused Gautam Adani and some
top executives in the Adani Group of being part of a scheme to
pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply
contracts and of misleading U.S. investors during fund raises
there, charges the group has called "baseless".
 
 ($1 = 84.7580 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Anuran Sadhu and Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru;
Editing by Savio D'Souza)
 ((Anuran.Sadhu@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8697274436;))