Adani Group Denounces Hindenburg Report, Reiterates Claims Were Previously Disproved

New Delhi: The Adani Group on Sunday vehemently rejected the latest allegations by Hindenburg Research as “malicious, mischievous and manipulative selections of publicly available information” to arrive at “pre-determined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law”.
In a stock exchange filing, the Group completely rejected these allegations “which are a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven to be baseless and already dismissed by the Honourable Supreme Court in January 2024”.
“For a discredited short-seller under the scanner for several violations of Indian securities laws, Hindenburg’s allegations are no more than red herrings thrown by a desperate entity with total contempt for Indian laws,” said the Adani Group.
Statement From Adani Group
A spokesperson from the Adani Group reiterated that the company’s overseas holding structure is fully transparent, with all relevant details disclosed regularly in numerous public documents.
“Furthermore, Anil Ahuja was a nominee director of 3i investment fund in Adani Power (2007-2008) and, later, a director of Adani Enterprises until 2017,” said the spokesperson.
The Adani Group said it has “absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing”. The spokesperson further said that the Group remains “steadfastly committed to transparency and compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements”.
Reaction From Madhabi Puri Buch
Earlier in the day, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch strongly denied the allegation levelled by Hindenburg Research against them, calling it a “character assassination attempt” because an Enforcement action and show cause notice was issued to the Nate Anderson-led company last month.
In a statement, they said, “It is unfortunate that Hindenburg Research against whom SEBI has taken an Enforcement action and issued a show cause notice has chosen to attempt character assassination in response to the same”.
These investments reportedly date back to 2015, well before Madhabi’s appointment as a whole-time member of SEBI in 2017 and the subsequent elevation as chairperson in March 2022. It said Bermuda-based Global Opportunities Fund, which allegedly was used by entities connected to Adani Group to trade in shares of group companies, had sub-funds. Buch and her husband were investors in one of these sub-funds in 2015.
Citing “whistleblower documents”, Hindenburg said, Madhabi and her husband had stakes in both obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.
SEBI, it claimed, has “shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani’s alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities.” Responding to the allegations, the Adani filing said: “It is reiterated that our overseas holding structure is fully transparent, with all relevant details disclosed regularly in numerous public documents.”
It went on to state that Anil Ahuja was a nominee director of 3i investment fund in Adani Power (2007-2008) and, later, a director of Adani Enterprises until 2017.
“The Adani Group has absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing. We remain steadfastly committed to transparency and compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements,” it said.
Adani said for “a discredited short-seller under the scanner for several violations of Indian securities laws, Hindenburg’s allegations are no more than red herrings thrown by a desperate entity with total contempt for Indian laws.”
(With inputs from agencies)