Hindenburg Research stands by its report on Adani, will seek disclosures in US court proceedings

Threatened with legal action, US activist investor Hindenburg Research on Thursday said it stands by its report that alleged “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud by the Adani group, saying it has a long list of documents it will demand in a legal discovery process.

Responding to Adani group’s statement that it was examining legal action against Hindenburg, the US-based investment research firm that specialises in activist short-selling, said Adani group has not answered any of the 88 straightforward questions it had put forward in the report.

“In the 36 hours since we released our report, Adani hasn’t addressed a single substantive issue we raised,” Hindenburg Research said on Twitter. “At the conclusion of our report, we asked 88 straightforward questions that we believe give the company a chance to be transparent. Thus far, Adani has answered none of these questions.”

Stating that it “fully stands” by the report, Hindenburg said it believes any legal action taken against it would be meritless.

“If Adani is serious, it should also file suit in the US where we operate. We have a long list of documents we would demand in a legal discovery process,” it said, adding Adani has in its statements referred to its 106-page, 32,000-word report, with over 720 citations and prepared over the course of 2 years, as unresearched.

On Wednesday, Hindenburg stated that its two-year investigation revealed that Adani Group has “engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”.

The report came just as a Rs 20,000 crore follow-on share sale of Adani Enterprises opened for institutional investors.