© Reuters. FILE PHOTO – The Adani Group logo is seen on a commercial complex in Mumbai, India, February 7, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
By Rodrigo Campos and Scott Murdoch
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Index provider MSCI said it had cut the free-float designations of four securities of India’s Adani Group, a move analysts warned could affect the weightings of their indices.
MSCI said in a statement that it reduced the free float of Adani Enterprises, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission and ACC.
The remaining companies in free circulation will remain the same.
Adani did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The four companies for which the free trade designation change was announced had a combined weighting of 0.4% in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index as of January 30.
The changes will take effect on March 1.
Billionaire Gautam Adani saw around $110 billion wiped off the value of seven companies in the group he founded after American short seller Hindenburg Research accused it of improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation. Adani has denied any wrongdoing.
Analysts said the change in free float status could affect the weightings of the MSCI index’s constituents, which could trigger fund switching since many investments are aligned to such indices.