The world's largest stock investor — Norway's sovereign wealth fund — has dumped its remaining shares in Adani companies worth $200 million

Norway's massive sovereign wealth fund has sold all its stakes in Adani Group companies.

The fund started selling its stakes in Adani Group companies even before the recent selloff started.

Adani Group companies have lost $110 billion in market cap amid a short seller attack.

Norway's massive sovereign wealth fund – the world's largest stock investor — has sold all of its stakes in Adani Group companies.

"In the five weeks since year-end, we have further reduced our exposure in Adani companies significantly, and so today for all intents and purposes we have no exposure left," said Christopher Wright, the fund's head of ESG risk monitoring at a Thursday press conference.

The fund — which manages assets worth $1.4 trillion — held stakes in Adani Total Gas, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, and Adani Green Energy at the end of 2022. Since the start of 2023, it has sold stakes worth just over $200 million in these companies, said Wright.

"We have monitored the Adani group companies for many years as part of our monitoring processes. Corporate governance has formed part of this monitoring, alongside many other ESG topics," he added.

Adani Group companies have come under tremendous pressure ever since US short seller Hindenburg Research released a scathing report on January 24 alleging a "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme" at the conglomerate.

The Adani Group denied the allegations, but shares of seven of its companies listed in India have taken a beating, losing about $110 billion in market cap, according to the latest Reuters calculations.

But the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund had started shedding its stake in the Adani Group companies since 2014 — well before the recent selloff.

Wright said the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund has divested from six Adani Group-linked companies, primarily for "reasons linked to handling environmental risks."

The Adani Group did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Shares of most Adani Group companies show mixed swings in early trade on Friday. Shares of the conglomerate's flagship company, Adani Enterprises, were up 1.1% after shedding about half their market value this year so far.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/adani-companies-norways-sovereign-wealth-fund-stakes-2023-2