Adani Enterprises today sought to dismiss a news report about the company appointing Grant Thornton for an independent audit of books as a ‘market rumour’, but fell short of explicitly confirming it, or denying it as untrue. “We would like to clarify that the said news item appears to be a market rumour and hence it would be inappropriate on our part to comment on it,” Adani Enterprises said in a clarification issued to stock exchanges, in response to a news report that said that the group has hired Grant Thornton to independently audit some of its companies in a bid to come clean of the damning allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research, and to assure investors and regulators.
“We wish to confirm that we have made and will continue to make disclosures in compliance with our obligations under SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 and our agreements with the stock exchanges,” Adani Enterprises said in the statement.
Adani Group has been in headlines since US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group/family of stock manipulation and money laundering. The Group’s stocks fell 50% in the aftermath of Hindenburg’s report, losing over Rs 9 lakh crore in market capitalisation in just a few days. On Thursday, Adani Enterprises shares rose over 2% to Rs 1,820.70 on NSE. All the Adani Group stocks were trading in green today, except Adani Total Gas, which fell 3.66% to Rs 1,037.00.
Hindenburg Research on January 24 published a report named “Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History.” It accused Gautam Adani and his brothers of stock manipulation and running various shell companies abroad, taking a short position in Adani Group Companies through US-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments. The report further added that its 7 key listed companies have 85% downside purely on a fundamental basis owing to sky-high valuations.
