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Gautam Adani has termed the report on the group by short-seller hedge fund Hindenburg Research, as targetted misinformation and outdated discredited allegations on the group, aimed at making short-term profits.
In the FY23 annual report of Adani Enterprises, the chairman of the Adani group stated in relation to the short-seller incident, “The report was a combination of targeted misinformation and outdated, discredited allegations aimed at damaging our reputation and generating profits through a deliberate drive-down of our stock prices.”
In January, the hedge fund released a voluminous report on the Adani group, accusing it of corporate governance lapses, price manipulation in group companies’ shares, and round tripping by shell companies. The report wiped out billions of dollars of market capitalisation of the group. It came on the eve of a ₹20,000 crore fund raising by Adani Enterprises through a follow-on public offer that was to fund its expansion. The FPO was called off due to poor retail interest.
Also read: Adani Group eyes ₹90,000-crore EBITDA in two-three years
Adani said in the annual report that the allegations by the short-seller had several adverse consequences “that we had to confront.” Despite a prompt and comprehensive rebuttal by the group, he said that “various vested interests tried to opportunistically exploit the claims made by the short seller.” He said false narratives were spread across news portals and social media platforms.
The matter reached the Supreme Court, which appointed an expert committee to look into the allegations and whether there had been any regulatory lapses. Commenting on the findings of the expert committee, Adani said that it did not find any regulatory failure. “The Committee’s Report not only observed that the mitigating measures, undertaken by your company helped rebuild confidence but also cited that there were credible charges of concerted destabilisation of the Indian markets.”
He said that the expert panel’s report confirmed the quality of the group’s disclosure. “While SEBI is still to submit its report in the months ahead, we remain confident of our governance and disclosure standards.”
Also read: Adani Group draws regulatory scrutiny in the US after Hindenburg report
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