Hindenburg has posted a comprehensive response to Adani on their website, stating that the fraud cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignores every key allegation we raised.
On Sunday, the group of India’s wealthiest man, Gautam Adani, portrayed the devastating accusations by short seller Hindenburg Research as a “calculated attack” on India, its establishments, and economic progress, claiming the allegations are “completely false”.
Hindenburg’s response states that Adani accused them of a “flagrant breach of applicable securities and foreign exchange laws.” Despite Adani’s inability to specify any such laws, this is another serious allegation which Hindenburg denies categorically.
The Adani Group also tried to divert attention from important issues and instead stirred nationalist sentiment, alleging that the report was a “calculated attack on India.” Essentially, they attempted to equate the rapid growth of their company and the wealth of its Chairman, Gautam Adani, with the prosperity of India itself.
The Hindenburg response said, “We disagree. To be clear, we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future. We also believe India’s future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation.”
The US-based investment firm further said, “In the report, 88 specific inquiries were made of the Adani Group in the study. Adani did not precisely address 62 of them in its response. Instead, it largely gave generic deflections and groupings of questions.”
“Other times, Adani did not substantively respond to the issues highlighted; instead, it merely cited its own papers and claimed the questions or pertinent factors were settled.”
“We outline its responses to the few questions it did address, which mostly supported our conclusions. But before we do, we should point out that the central claims of our study, which centred on a number of dubious transactions with offshore corporations, were simply ignored”, it added.
Adani Group, in a 413-page reply, stated that the report was motivated by “an ulterior motive” to “create a false market” for the purpose of allowing the US company to reap financial benefits.
Adani Group claims that the allegations in Hindenburg Research’s January 24 report are “completely false.” They say the report is “a deliberate mixture of misleading information and hidden facts, based on baseless and discredited allegations, aimed at fulfilling an underlying objective.”
“This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India,” it said.
Adani Group also questioned Hindenburg’s credibility and ethics and stated that the malicious intent behind the report was evident, given its timing during Adani Enterprises Limited’s largest ever public offering of equity shares in India.