The Qataris have officially grabbed stakes in Adani Green: The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has acquired a 2.7% stake in India’s Adani Green Energy for c. USD 474 mn in a block transaction, Bloomberg reports, citing stock exchange data. The transaction saw QIA’s unit INQ Holding grab over 42.6 mn shares in Adani’s green energy arm at INR 920 a piece, with stock data showing Adani Green’s founder group company Infinite Trade and Investment selling 44.9 mn shares.

Why this matters for Adani: The QIA’s investment could prove to be a lifeline for the Indian conglomerate after a rout that wiped over USD 100 bn in its market value earlier this year. The setback came following a short-seller report by Hindenburg Research that made fraud allegations against the Indian conglomerate, battering investor confidence. Adani scrapped its USD 2.45 bn secondary offering last February — which was expected to finance green projects in MENA, among other things — citing an “unprecedented situation and the current market volatility.” Abu Dhabi-headquartered corporate investment holding firm International Holding Company and UAE sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority were among the regional bidders on the books for shares.

Adani Green was already embarking on an expansion plan: Adani Green unveiled plans lastmonth to raise IRN 123 bn (c. USD 1.5 bn) to finance expansion plans. It's looking to bring in more institutional investors and lure in more research analysts to track the firm by selling shares through qualified institutional placement, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

And they’re looking at Morocco: The embattled conglomerate is reportedly eyeinginvestments in renewables projects with 10 GW of capacity in Morocco to supply green ammonia to Europe. The project, which would be developed in two 5 GW phases, would be used to supply clean energy to a green ammonia plant that would target exports to Europe. The wind and solar plants would be Adani’s largest clean energy project outside of India, and would more than triple Morocco’s already installed renewables capacity of 2.8 GW

REMEMBER- The Qataris are already seeing potential in India: The QIA is among a number of investors looking to buy a minority stake in the retail unit of Indian b’naire Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate Reliance Industries, according to an earlier report by Bloomberg.

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