Adani Group refused claims of Gautam Adani specifying a retirement date in his recently announced succession plan.
Recently, Bloomberg had reported that Gautam Adani, 62, will be handing over the Adani Group business to his next generation in the 2030s at a time when he himself will be around 70 years old. As per the report, “Adani plans to retire at age 70, with his four heirs—sons Karan and Jeet, along with cousins Pranav and Sagar—set to become equal beneficiaries of the family trust.”
However, now Adani Enterprises has issued a clarification regarding the company Chairman Gautam Adani's succession plans, and claimed that Gautam Adani’s statements about heirs and equal beneficial interest in the family trust have been misquoted.
The company mentioned in a filing to stock exchanges, "We would like to clarify that, in a recent interview, Gautam Adani shared his thoughts on succession planning to ensure business sustainability. He said that succession is not just one event but a journey and that it must be organic, gradual and systematic. Mr. Adani did not specify any date or point in time."
For those caught unaware, the Bloomberg report had claimed that Adani's four heirs - his own sons Karan and Jeet, along with nephews Pranav and Sagar, would be becoming equal family trust beneficiaries.
Terming it as misrepresentation, the company further stated, "Mr Adani has been misquoted about heirs and equal beneficial interest in the family trust. He had mentioned the involvement of his two sons and two nephews in various businesses of the group."
In the original interview, Gautam Adani had mentioned that he has confidence in the next generation's ability to lead the group, and was quoted as saying, "I am happy that all of them are hungry for growth, which is not common in the second generation. They have to work together to build a legacy."
Now with the recent clarification, the exact details of Gautam Adani's succession plan remain more uncertain.
Meanwhile, talking about the recent fluctuations in its share price, the company called any such movements as market-driven. The company maintained, "We would further like to submit that the share prices are purely market driven and the management of the Company neither has any control nor has any knowledge of any specific reason for the movement in price of shares seen yesterday. It is worth noting that share market itself saw a correction of approximately 3 per cent yesterday."
Coming back to the heir apparents, Karan Adani is Gautam Adani's elder son, and he looks at the company’s established businesses including cement, ports and logistics. Pranav Adani, who joined the group in 1999, is the force behind the conglomerate’s consumer businesses, including consumer goods, gas distribution, media and real estate, and is also behind the redevelopment of Asia’s largest slum Dharavi.
