The nearly $630 million investment that the Caisse de Depot et Placement made in Indian company Azure Power Global from 2016 to 2022 is now worth just $11.3 million.
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Azure shares fell 27% on Monday to close at $0.25 on the OTC secondary market. The stock is down more than 85% since Friday.
The Caisse agreed with Le Journal and declined to comment on the situation. Note that trading in the company’s shares is currently restricted to investors with special accreditation, which could lead to “price warping,” OTC Markets warns on its website.
Banned from the New York Stock Exchange
The crash follows the New York Stock Exchange’s announcement last week that it would delist shares of Azure Power because the company has still not filed its annual report for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 with the U.S. Constable has.
The Caisse owns more than 50% of Azure’s shares, while OMERS, the investment manager for the Ontario public sector pension plan, has a roughly 20% stake in the company.
The Indian company specializing in the production of solar energy has been the subject of corruption allegations for several months. The investigations initiated in this regard at the request of Azure are still ongoing.
The examiner left
The company that performed the accounting audit at Azure recently left without explanation.
In the Parliamentary Committee of the National Assembly in May, the Caisse’s chief executive, Charles Emond, expressed reassurance.
“It’s not an investment where we’re bound to lose,” he argued. The story is far from over. It’s a business that makes a profit. For us it is an investment that is not necessarily perfectly represented by the market price.”