Norway wealth fund has sold its stakes in Adani companies

Thu, 9 February 2023 

A logo of the Adani Group is seen on a commercial complex in Mumbai

OSLO (Reuters) -Norway's sovereign wealth fund has sold its stakes in three Adani Group companies worth just over $200 million since the start of the year, the world's largest stock investor said on Thursday.

The $1.35 trillion fund at the end of 2022 held stakes in Adani Total Gas, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone and Adani Green Energy.

"Since year-end, we have further reduced in Adani companies. We have no exposure left," Christopher Wright, the fund's head of ESG risk monitoring, told a news conference.

"We have monitored Adani for many years (on ESG) issues, many on their handling of environmental risks," he said.

Adani's seven main Indian-listed stocks have plunged by some $110 billion after a scathing Jan. 24 report by U.S. short seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation.

The Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund at the end of 2022 held a stake in Adani Total worth $83.6 million, a stake in Adani Ports worth $63.4 million and a stake in Adani Green Energy of $52.7 million.

The fund, managed by a unit of the central bank, owns 1.3% of all globally listed shares with stakes in some 9,200 companies.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Gwladys Fouche and Jason Neely)