Billionaire US investor Bill Ackman jumped into the ongoing Adani-Hindenburg issue with his own opinion on the credibility of Hindenburg’s research report, indicating that India’s richest person is now possibly under the lens of the global investor community. Bill Ackman tweeted that he found short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report on Adani Group “highly credible and extremely well researched”. He also drew a comparison with his own prior experience with another company. The Hindenburg report said that it held short positions in Adani Group through its US-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments, and accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens.
“Adani’s response to Hindenburg is the same as Herbalife’s response to our original 350-page presentation. Herbalife remains a pyramid scheme. I found the Hindenburg report highly credible and extremely well researched,” Ackman said in a tweet on Thursday.
Adani’s response to @HindenburgRes is the same as @Herbalife’s response to our original 350-page presentation. Herbalife remains a pyramid scheme. I found the Hindenburg report highly credible and extremely well researched. @AdaniOnline response speaks volumes. Caveat emptor. https://t.co/og6DLbPzp5
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 27, 2023
“We are not invested long or short in any of the Adani companies or Herbalife, nor have we done our own independent research,” he added.
We are not invested long or short in any of the Adani companies or Herbalife, nor have we done our own independent research. You should not consider this tweet investment advice, just my judgment based on the @HindenburgRes report and the Adani response.
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 27, 2023
The stocks of Adani Group tanked up to 20% on Friday. Adani Enterprises shares fell more than 6% to Rs 3,183.85, Adani Ports fell 10% to Rs 641.65, Adani Power hit a 5% lower circuit, trading at Rs 248.05, Adani Transmission shares plunged 18% to Rs 2,055.80 apiece, Adani Green Energy tumbled 19.86% to 1,487.00, Adani Total Gas down 20% to Rs 2,934.55 and Adani Wilmar shares tanked 5% to Rs 517.30.
Adani Group has said that it is considering “remedial and punitive action” against Hindenburg, calling the report “maliciously mischievous, (and) unresearched.” In reply, Hindenburg said it would demand documents in the legal discovery process if Adani Group files a lawsuit in the United States. As the Adani Enterprises shares tanked over 6%, the follow-on public offer (FPO) of the company opened for retail subscription today with a price band of Rs 3,112-3,276 per share. The FPO will close on January 31. It is the largest-ever FPO in the Indian capital markets history with the target of raising Rs 20,000 crore.