Hindenburg Research says it stands by report on Adani Group, says any legal action would be ‘meritless’

Adani Group said it was mulling legal options in the US and India against Hindenburg Research after its report accused firms owned by Gautam Adani of market manipulation and accounting fraud.

New Delhi: Hindenburg Research on Thursday said it fully stands by its report on Adani Group and believes any “legal action taken against us would be meritless”.

“Regarding the company’s threats of legal action, to be clear, we would welcome it. We fully stand by our report and believe any legal action taken against us would be meritless,” said Hindenburg Research in a statement that was posted on its official Twitter handle.

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Earlier on Thursday, Adani Group said it was mulling legal options in the US and India against Hindenburg Research after its report accused firms owned by Gautam Adani of market manipulation and accounting fraud.

Jatin Jalundhwala, Group Head – Legal, Adani Group, in a statement, said, “The maliciously mischievous, unresearched report published by Hindenburg Research on 24 January 2023 has adversely affected the Adani Group, our shareholders and investors.” “We (the Group) are evaluating the relevant provisions under US and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research,” Jalundhwala said.

The legal head further added the volatility in Indian stock markets created by that report is of great concern and has led to ‘unwanted anguish’, among Indian citizens.

Hours after the Adani group legal head’s statement, Hindenburg Research, in its statement, said, “If Adani is serious, it should also file suit in the U.S. where we operate. We have a long list of documents we would demand in a legal discovery process.” “In the 36 hours since we released our report, Adani hasn’t addressed a single substantive issue we raised. At the conclusion of our report, we asked 88 straightforward questions that we believe give the company a chance to be transparent. Thus far, Adani has answered none of these questions,” the statement said, adding that the Group has instead resorted to “bluster and threats”.

Reportedly, the research firm, in its report on Tuesday, raised concerns about shares of Adani group companies having a possibility of declining from their current levels, owing to high valuations. It also said the Group’s exposure to debt was a concern.

On Wednesday, Jugeshinder Singh, the chief financial officer (CFO) of the Adani Group said the conglomerate was “shocked” by the Hindenburg Research’s report and termed it a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations that have been tested and rejected by India’s highest courts”.

“We are shocked that Hindenburg Research has published a report on January 24, 2023, without making any attempt to contact us or verify the factual matrix. The report is a malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations that have been tested and rejected by India’s highest courts,” the CFO on Wednesday said in a statement.

The timing of the report by Hindenburg Research, the CFO, in his statement, said “clearly betrays a brazen, mala fide intention to undermine” the Adani Group’s reputation with the “principal objective of damaging” the upcoming Follow-on Public Offering from Adani Enterprises, the biggest FPO ever in India.