Adani Assets 'Irreplaceable', Available At Good Price, Says GQG Partners Chairman Rajiv Jain

The airports, ports, and energy assets owned by the Adani Group are "fantastic", "irreplaceable" and available at a good price, said Rajiv Jain hours after his GQG Partners invested nearly $1.9 billion in the conglomerate.

Short-seller Hindenburg Research in a report alleging stock manipulation and fraud in Adani Group companies led to a wipeout of over $100 billion across the group's listed firms. The group has since dismissed these claims.

"They have their view, and we have our view, and we happen to disagree with their view, but that’s what makes a market," Jain told The Australian Financial Review in an interview.

GQG Partners acquired 3.39% in Adani Enterprises, 4.1% in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., 2.55% in Adani Transmission Ltd., and 3.51% in Adani Green Energy Ltd. from the SB Adani Family Trust via block trades on Thursday.

"About 25% of India’s air traffic passes through their airports, and 25% to 40% of India’s cargo volume goes through their ports," said Jain, co-founder and chairman of GQG Partners. "The biggest competitors are actually the Indian government, who are not exactly the fastest-running horse in the race."

Adani Green Energy is by far the "fastest and the largest private sector, green energy company in India", he said. "They’re rolling out almost three gigawatts annually. So, so I think some of their assets are fantastic."

"Countries like India need to make the energy transition. Companies like these would be a critical part of that," Jain said.

GQG has been following the Adani Group companies closely for five years, Jain said, but the "valuation was in no man’s territory", Jain said. "We kept doing more work, and the more we looked at it, like this, it was actually interesting on its own," 

Jain also allayed corporate governance concerns and allegations raised by Hindenburg. 

"A lot of governments have come and gone in that period. Frauds typically don’t last 30 years, three months, or even three years, but not 30 years. There’s been a lot of value creation over the years or decades, actually," he said.

"The serious governance issues are in tech, such as stock-based compensation and how they account for that. A lot of U.S. tech companies are still in la-la land if you look at governance practices," Jain said.

Disclaimer: Adani Enterprises is in the process of acquiring a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd., the owner of BQ Prime.