After US-based short seller Viceroy Research released a report on Vedanta Research calling the entire group “financially unsustainable, operationally compromised”, the mining conglomerate issued a statement calling it “malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations”.
A spokesperson from Vedanta Group said, “The report is a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations to discredit the Group. It has been issued without making any attempt to contact us with the sole objective of creating false propaganda.”
Vedanta Group said that the Viceroy report only contains compilation of various information already in the public domain and the short-seller has tried to “sensationalise the context to profiteer from market reaction”.
Vedanta questions timing of Viceroy report
The timing of the report, it added, could be to undermine Vedanta’s forthcoming corporate initiatives. Vedanta is in the midst of trying to demerge the company into five separate listed entities.
The most recent update in the demerger plan being the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas raising objections to the proposed demerger plan before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). This is further delaying finalisation of the restructuring process. Vedanta’s board had approved the plan to demerge the company in 2023.
During the July 2 hearing, the SEBI had informed the NCLT that it is currently reviewing whether Vedanta has adhered to regulatory requirements for the demerger. Although the NCLT has granted a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the deal, it has set the next hearing for August 20.
Vedanta said, “The timing of the Report is suspect and could be to undermine the forthcoming corporate initiatives. Our stakeholders are discerning enough to understand such tactics.”
“In fact, to avoid any responsibility – authors of the report have added various disclaimers that the Report has been prepared for educational purposes only and expresses their opinions and are not statements of fact,” the company spokesperson added.
“We remain focused on the business and growth, and request everyone to avoid speculation and unsubstantiated allegations,” the Vedanta Group statement concluded.
Viceroy Research takes cognizance of the statement
Viceroy Research, meanwhile, acknowledged the statement from Vedanta Group. In response, the short-seller said in a post on X (formerly, Twitter), “Vedanta simply has outlined details of our legal disclaimer. This is the laziest response to any report we have published in our 8+ year history. We encourage stakeholders to seek responses to our valid, thoroughly referenced criticisms at $VEDL’s AGM.”