GQG Partners ups India play, picks up 5.96% in Patanjali

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₹2,639.4 crore, this implies the US-based firm invested in Patanjali at a price of ₹1,223.35 a share. Following the announcement, shares of Patanjali Foods shot up 2.91% to touch an intraday high of ₹1,259 apiece before closing at ₹1,223.35 apiece. The food and ayurvedic products company has a market capitalization of ₹45,419.5 crore but, over the past year, the company’s stock has given returns of 20.3%, even though the broader market index Nifty 50 gained at least 23%.

Jain has been raising his bet on Indian firms over the past few months. In the past three months, GQG Partner’s total investment in Adani Group firms has gone up to ₹26,445 crore . In addition, GQG Partners has a significant exposure to other Indian companies such as HDFC Ltd.

(now merged with HDFC Bank), ITC Ltd, ICICI Bank, SBI, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, RIL, Cipla, NTPC, JSW Stee, Coal India, L&T, and Ambuja Cements. On 12 July, Patanjali Foods Ltd said its primary promoter Patanjali Ayurved Ltd was planning to divest at least 7% of the stake for ₹2,533.9 crore via an offer-for-sale (OFS) on exchanges. The OFS is aimed to help Patanjali Foods adhere to the minimum public shareholding guidelines of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

At present, the promoters of Patanjali hold an 80.82% stake in the company, which exceeds the Sebi-directed limit of 75%. On Friday, the retail portion of an OFS (offer for sale) by Patanjali Foods was fully subscribed. In Friday's trade, the stock hit a 5% upper circuit at ₹1,225 apiece on the BSE.

Shares in the OFS are sold at a discounted floor price of ₹1,000 to retail investors. The cut-off price for non-retail investors such as GQG Partners, was set at Rs. 1,103.80 per share in the concluded OFS.