The Hidenburg Research criticised the Adani Group, alleging that its “Bloated Response” disregarded “every significant point we stated” and that “Fraud cannot be camouflaged by nationalism.”
New York : Hours after the Indian conglomerate in its rebuttal said that allegations of stock manipulation levelled by the US-based short seller amounted to a “calculated attack on India,” Hindenburg Research said on Monday that the Adani Group has attempted to conflate its meteoric rise and the wealth of its Chairman, Gautam Adani, with the success of India itself. The Hidenburg Research criticised the Adani Group, alleging that its “Bloated Response” disregarded “every significant point we stated” and that “Fraud cannot be camouflaged by nationalism.” The reaction follows the publication of a lengthy 413-page report by Adani Group, which refuted all accusations made against it and referred to the Hindenburg report as “an assault on India and its autonomous institutions.”
A research by Hindenburg Research, released on January 24, accused the Adani Group of accounting fraud and stock manipulation over a period of decades, which had caused a drop in the value of the shares of the Indian conglomerate’s port-to-energy business of over USD 51 billion.
The Adani Group said the research had “an ulterior objective” and was intended to “create a phoney market” so the US company could profit. A “malicious mix of selected falsehoods and outdated, unsubstantiated, and discredited charges,” it said, was contained in the Hindenburg Research study.
In its reaction earlier today, Hindenburg Research noted that Adani had just published a “413-page answer.” The sensationalistic assertion that we are the “Madoffs of Manhattan” was made in the opening paragraph. It also attempted to shift the conversation away from important concerns and into a nationalist narrative by saying that our research amounted to a “planned attack on India,” which was predictable. Shortly put, the Adani Group has sought to equate the prosperity of India with that of the Adani Group, whose chairman, Gautam Adani, is extremely wealthy.
Short seller stated that it didn’t agree. To be clear, we think India is a thriving democracy and a superpower on the rise with a promising future. We also think that the Adani Group, which has covered itself in the Indian flag while methodically robbing the country, is holding back India’s potential,” it said. We also think that fraud is fraud, even if it’s committed by one of the richest people in the world, the statement said.
Only approximately 30 of Adani’s 413 page answer, according to the Hindenburg group, “centred on concerns pertinent to our study.” “ The rest of the response included 330 pages of court documents, 53 pages of high-level financials, general information, and information on useless company activities, including how It promotes women’s business ownership and the cultivation of safe veggies,” the statement read. According to the organisation, 88 specific concerns were posed to the Adani Group in its study, and 62 of those issues were not directly addressed by Adani in its response. Instead, it mostly gave generic deflections and groupings of queries. The Hindenburg group claimed that “in other cases, Adani merely cited to its own papers and deemed the concerns or pertinent topics settled, failing again to substantively address the issues highlighted.”
The main charges in the US-based short seller’s research, which “centred on multiple questionable transactions with offshore firms,” were simply ignored, according to the short seller. According to Hindenburg, “We enquired as to the origin of the billions of US funds that had passed through the Adani Group from Vinod Adani-Associated Offshore shell organisations. Adani’s defence is that “we are neither aware of their’source of funding’ nor are we compelled to be aware of them.” It gave two examples: “Example #1: A US$253 million loan from a Mauritius entity where Vinod Adani serves as a director,” and “Example #2: A US$692.5 million investment from a Mauritius entity controlled by the head of the Adani Group’s Private Equity.”Investment Office for Families “Our investigation identified several inconsistencies and linkages between suspected offshore stock parking firms and Adani promoters, raising critical concerns regarding whether promoter holdings were adequately reported,” Hindenburg said. The reply from Adani stated that it “simply does not know who its major public holders are.” On Adani’s legal technicality argument, the US company added, “It seems evident to us that Vinod Adani is a linked party to The Adani Group.” Adani’s answer, according to Hindenburg, “essentially corroborated our findings and ignored Our key questions.” Disclosure: Through US-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivatives, we are short the Adani Group.
Instruments” The Hindenburg group asserted in a disclaimer that the study only refers to the value of assets sold outside of India, and that it had short positions in the Adani Group Companies through US-traded bonds, non-Indian-traded derivatives, and other non-Indian-traded reference securities.
