Adani Group exploring legal options against Hindenburg

New Delhi: A day after Adani Group's shares took a beating as Hindenburg Research made damaging allegations against it, the group on Thursday said it is examining legal options to take punitive action against the US activist investor for its reckless attempt to sabotage a share-sale at the conglomerate's flagship firm.

"The maliciously mischievous, unresearched report published by Hindenburg Research on January 24, 2023, has adversely affected the Adani Group, our shareholders and investors. The volatility in Indian stock markets created by the report is of great concern and has led to unwanted anguish for Indian citizens," the group's lead head Jatin Jalundhwala said in a statement.

The report and its unsubstantiated contents were designed to have a deleterious effect on the share values of Adani Group companies as Hindenburg Research, by their own admission, is positioned to benefit from a slide in Adani shares, he said.

"We are deeply disturbed by this intentional and reckless attempt by a foreign entity to mislead the investor community and the general public, undermine the goodwill and reputation of the Adani Group and its leaders, and sabotage the FPO (Follow-on Public Offering) from Adani Enterprises," he said.

"We are evaluating the relevant provisions under US and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research." The statement, however, did not say if the group is planning to sue Hindenburg. Hindenburg, a US-based investment research firm that specialises in activist short-selling, said on Wednesday that its two-year investigation revealed that Adani Group has "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades." The report came just as a Rs 20,000 crore follow-on share sale of Adani Enterprises opened for institutional investors.