Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani Refrains from Bidding for PTC India Stake Amid Business Criticism
Sources close to the matter report that Gautam Adani, an Indian billionaire, has opted not to bid for a stake in PTC India Ltd., a state-backed electricity trader, as his business empire strives to retain cash amidst business criticism from a US short-seller. Adani was initially among potential bidders evaluating preliminary information on the Mumbai-listed company, as previously reported by Bloomberg News in January.
The anonymous insiders revealed that Adani will no longer proceed with any offer for the energy trading firm. A representative for the Adani Group has declined to comment on this development as the information remains private.
According to sources, state-owned entities including NTPC Ltd., NHPC Ltd., Power Grid Corp. of India, and Power Finance Corp. have been collaborating with an adviser to contemplate selling their 4% stakes each in PTC India. Based on the current stock price of PTC, a 16% stake could amount to about $52 million. This year, PTC’s stock has surged nearly 11%, giving the company a market worth of approximately $322 million.
This recent decision comes in light of Adani Power Ltd.’s move to abandon its plan of acquiring a coal plant project worth $848 million in central India. The US short-seller, Hindenburg Research, accused the Adani Group of accounting fraud and market manipulation in late January. Despite denying all allegations, the slump in ten Adani companies has collectively wiped off more than $130 billion of their market value.
As part of its efforts to regain the trust of investors, the Adani Group has reportedly halved its revenue growth target and plans to halt fresh capital expenditure. PTC, which was previously known as Power Trading Corp. of India, was established in 1999 as a public-private partnership and began trading energy in 2001.
According to its website, it has the most substantial market share in India, catering to all state utilities in the country as well as some neighboring nations.
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