Adani cleared of some Hindenburg allegations by India regulator

MUMBAI: India’s market regulator issued two orders on Thursday (Sep 18) clearing several of billionaire Gautam Adani’s companies of some of the allegations of financial impropriety made by US short-seller Hindenburg Research.

The Adani Group, a sprawling ports-to-power conglomerate, lost billions of dollars in market value in 2023 after Hindenburg accused it of “brazen” corporate fraud.

The forensic financial research firm alleged undisclosed related-party transactions and earnings manipulation “to maintain the appearance of financial health and solvency” across Adani’s listed firms.

Founder Gautam Adani rejected the claims at the time, calling the Hindenburg report a “deliberate attempt” to damage the group’s reputation for the benefit of short-sellers.

SEBI ORDERS

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) published two orders on Thursday concerning Adani Group’s listed ports and power units.

SEBI said it found the conglomerate had not used related-party transactions to route funding into group companies and therefore had not violated disclosure rules.

“Having considered the matter holistically, I find that the allegations... are not established,” wrote Kamlesh C Varshney, a SEBI member, in both orders.

ADANI RESPONDS

Gautam Adani, ranked the world’s 20th richest person by Bloomberg’s billionaire index, welcomed the findings in a post on social media platform X.

“After an exhaustive investigation, SEBI has reaffirmed what we have always maintained – that the Hindenburg claims were baseless. Transparency and integrity have always defined the Adani Group,” he wrote.

“We deeply feel the pain of the investors who lost money because of this fraudulent and motivated report. Those who spread false narratives owe the nation an apology.”

Hindenburg’s founder Nate Anderson said in January that the investment group had completed its projects and would be disbanded.