Sebi Dismisses Hindenburg's Allegations Against Adani Group Companies

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has dismissed allegations of "related party dealings" levelled by US short seller Hindenburg Research against Adani group Chairman Gautam Adani and the group's companies, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, and Adani Power, according to a recent report by NDTV.

In January 2021, Hindenburg Research had alleged the group had used three companies - Adicorp Enterprises, Milestone Tradelinks, and Rehvar Infrastructure - to route money between Adani group firms.

Laying out its conclusions in two orders, Sebi said there were no violations, noting that the transactions took place at a time when such dealings with unrelated parties did not qualify as related party dealings. The definition was changed after an amendment in 2021.

Noting that all loans were repaid, funds were used for intended purposes, and there was no fraud or unfair trade practice, Sebi dropped all proceedings against the Adani group, according to a report by news agency PTI.

Speaking to NDTV on September 18, former Sebi executive director JN Gupta said that in the time since the Hindenburg report was released, almost everyone gradually came to the conclusion that “Adanis were not on the wrong side.”

"This order puts a final seal on the fact that there was no truth to the Hindenburg Report... This exposes a couple of things: that we have a system where we believe so many things without facts, and that our system needs to improve because it has taken more than two years to come to this conclusion. Retail investors who panicked because of the report and liquidated their investment have lost," Gupta said.

The Adani group has consistently rubbished the allegations made by the short seller, whose founder, Nate Anderson, had announced in January that it would be disbanded.

Speaking about the hit jobs by Hindenburg later, Gautam Adani had highlighted the importance of “rising stronger after every fall.”

"Over the years, we have assembled a set of leaders who dare to repeatedly venture into the unknown. Even in the face of unprecedented challenges, it is their guts that inspire others to rise. This form of leadership is the very essence of what defines the Adani Group," he had said.

"And our leadership spirit was never more visible than during the financial market attack in January last year. It was a short-selling attack initiated from abroad. This was not a typical financial strike. It was a dual assault targeting our financial stability and pulling us into a political storm. It was a calculated move, timed just days before the close of our Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) and designed to cause maximum damage - and further amplified by certain media with vested interests," the Adani group Chairman emphasised.