Adani Group to sue Hindenburg Research for 'malafide, mischievous' report

A report by US-based financial research firm Hindenburg with claims that Adani’s unreal rise is based on a sham with inflated stocks and massive debt shook the company and the stock market. The claims by these reports have led to a 10 per cent crash in the prices of the Adani Group stock market, which wiped off more than Rs 46,000 crore from the group's market cap.

Post this fall the Adani Group's Legal group head, Jatin Jalundhwala in a statement said that the company is looking for "relevant provisions under the US and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research.”

The statement also pointed out that the Hindenburg Research benefits from a slide in Adani shares as the company holds a short position in Adani Group companies through US-traded bonds, non-Indian-traded derivatives and other non-Indian-traded reference securities.

The company also believes this as a move to sabotage the Follow-on Public Offering from Adani Enterprises.

What does the report by Hindenburg say?

The report slammed by Adani as stale and filled with misinformation, claims that five out of the group’s seven listed firms, have a current ratio lower than one. Current ratio indicates a company’s ability to pay back short term loans, and a lower ration can increase the pressure on liquidity.

The report which directly labelled Adani’s rise as an elaborate con, also accused the group of manipulating stocks and pulling off accounting fraud.

Hindenburg has also added how stocks with inflated prices have been pledged to raise loans, and Adani’s seven group firms also have a downside of 85 per cent. It went on to mention how eight out of 22 key figures in the Adani Group are Gautam Adani’s family members, giving disproportionate decision-making power to a few people. The firm further mentions an offshore fund called Elara, which holds Adani shares worth $3 billion, and that its former trader revealed that Adani controlled the stocks.

Hindenburg’s report also alleges that Elara’s CEO has worked closely with a fugitive accountant who had worked with convicted stock market fraudster Ketan Parekh.