In the latest turn of events in the Adani - Hindenburg row, Adani Group has issued a clarification to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) dismissing reports of the group having hired accountancy firm Grant Thornton for undertaking independent audits. Earlier, according to media reports, it was said that Adani Group hired Grant Thornton to “discredit claims” made by US based short-seller Hindenburg Research.
The press release issued by the conglomerate stated that the claims in the media reports are “market rumour.” Additionally, it also said that they would be doing disclosure according to existing market guidelines. “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,” it said.
Initially, in some media reports, it was suggested that the move to hire Grant Thornton was triggered by the Hindenburg report that came out on January 24. In its report, the US based short seller flagged the Adani Group for allegedly being involved in illegal practices such as stock price manipulation and improper use of off-shore shell companies. The allegations levelled by Hindenburg had a severe impact on the Indian markets, where the listed companies of the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate lost around Rs 10 lakh crore in its market capitalisation in a little over two weeks.
Further, the allegations made by the Hindenburg Research’s report resulted in ratings agency Moody’s cutting the rating outlook for Adani Green Energy Ltd, Adani Green Energy Restricted Group, Adani Transmission Step-One Ltd and Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd to negative from stable.
