War of Words between Adani Group & Hindenburg
Adani Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates, has responded to a report from Hindenburg Research, which accuses the company of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”. Adani’s response questions Hindenburg’s credentials and the timing of the report and argues that the report is not just an attack on the company but an attack on India, its institutions, and its growth story. Following the publication of Hindenburg Research’s report, Adani Group lost over $50 billion in market value in just two trading sessions, with Chairman Gautam Adani losing over $20 billion, or about one-fifth of his total fortune.
Adani’s response accuses Hindenburg of being an unethical short seller and concealing crucial pieces of information, including its funding sources. The company claims that many of the allegations made have already been disclosed by the group and in some cases, Adani has received favorable verdicts from institutions such as the Appellate Tribunal and the Supreme Court. The company also argues that Hindenburg’s questions regarding the company’s organizational structures fail to take into account that most large corporations in the infrastructure business operate in a similar fashion.
Hindenburg’s rebuttal says that Adani’s response only addresses a small part of the substantive points raised in the report and that the company has sought to conflate the wealth of its Chairman with the success of India itself.
