Adani group's first reaction to new hindenburg attack ‘malicious mischievous’

Adani group's first reaction to new hindenburg attack ‘malicious mischievous’

Adani-Hindenburg saga: The conglomerate accused the firm of arriving at pre-determined conclusions for ‘personal profiteering'.

The Adani Group on Sunday slammed American short-seller Hindenburg for claiming that the conglomerate had financial links with Sebi chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband, saying the allegations were malicious, mischievous and manipulative. The conglomerate accused the firm of arriving at pre-determined conclusions for ‘personal profiteering'.

‘The latest allegations by Hindenburg are 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. We completely reject these allegations against the Adani Group which are a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven to be baseless and already dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in January 2024,’ it said.

The group said its overseas holding structure was fully transparent, with all relevant details disclosed regularly in numerous public documents.

The statement further said that the Adani Group has no commercial relationship with the Sebi chief or her husband Dhaval Bhuc. It further accused the American company of carrying out deliberate efforts to ‘malign our standing’.

‘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.

It also called Hindenburg Research a ‘discredited short-seller’. ‘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,’ it added.

How did Sebi chairperson Madhabi Buch react to Hindenburg's allegations?

Buch and her husband said in a joint statement that the American firm was attempting to assassinate their character in response to an ‘Enforcement action’ against it by the market regulator.

‘Our life and finances are an open book. All disclosures as required have already been furnished to SEBI over the years. We have no hesitation in disclosing any and all financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them. Further, in the interest of complete transparency, we would be issuing a detailed statement in due course,’ 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,’ they added.

What are Hindenburg's charges against Adani Group, Madhabi Buch?

Hindenburg has alleged that Buch and her husband had hidden stakes in obscure offshore funds held by the Adani Group.

‘What we hadn't realized: the current SEBI Chairperson and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani,’ the report by the US hedge firm said.