NEW DELHI: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has reduced its stake in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) by nearly 2 per cent over a period of nearly three years, the state-run insurer informed the exchanges on Monday.
This stake sale announcement by LIC comes amid growing talks of its investment in Adani Group companies even when foreign institutional investors were opting to cash out after a few years of a staggering bull run that made its promoter Gautam Adani Asia’s richest billionaire.
“This is to inform you that Corporation’s shareholding in “ADANI PORTS AND SEZ LTD” has diluted from 240,147,873 to 197,526,194 equity shares, decreasing its shareholding from 11.369 per cent to 9.351 per cent of the paid-up capital of the company,” LIC said in a regulatory filing.
It said the holding decreased by 2.018% during the period from January 23, 2019, to November 11, 2022, at an average cost of Rs 646.59. On Monday, APSEZ shares closed the trading session at Rs 895 apiece with a market capitalization of Rs 1.93 lakh crore. As per shareholding pattern data of the seven listed Adani group firms, LIC increased its holding in four -- Adani Enterprises (AEL), Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission in past one year.
LIC’s stake in Adani Group flagship AEL grew to 4.02 per cent as of September 2022 from 2.22 per cent year-ago period, while in Adani Total Gas, LIC hiked its holding to 5.77 per cent from 3.58 per cent. Its stake in Adani Transmission grew to 3.46 per cent in September 2022 from 2.42 per cent in the same month last year. LIC holds 1.15 per cent in Adani Green as well.
Meanwhile, share prices of LIC rose as much as 9 per cent intraday on Monday, its best intra-day percentage gain since it made a discounted listing on the bourses on May 17, 2022. The surge came after the country’s largest insurer reported strong earnings for the September quarter on Friday.