Adani stocks tank up to 5% as George Soros-backed entity attempts Hindenburg 2.0

NEW DELHI: Adani Group shares on Thursday fell up to 5% as George Soros-backed Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) attempted an ambush on Adani Group by claiming that two men who secretly invested in the conglomerate have close ties to the Adani family.

Shares of Adani Power, Adani Energy Solutions and Adani Green led the downside by dropping 4-5% each. The conglomerate's cash cow Adani Ports fell 3% while the flagship entity Adani Enterprises fell 3.5%.

The remaining five Adani stocks were also trading with a negative bias.


While the Adani Group has dismissed the allegations made by OCCRP and also published in two foreign publications - The Guardian and Financial Times - calling them as "recycled allegations" made in the Hindenburg report earlier, the fresh report has identified two men who allegedly spent years trading hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Adani Group stock: Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling.

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The report claimed that the two men have also served as directors and shareholders in Adani Group companies and companies associated with Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani.

"From the outside these funds, called Emerging India Focus Fund (EIFF) and EM Resurgent Fund (EMRF), appear to be typical offshore investment vehicles, operated on behalf of a number of wealthy investors," it said, adding that the two entities netted hundreds of millions over the years by repeatedly buying Adani stock low and selling it high.

"Between them, at the peak of their investment in June 2016, the two funds held free-floating shares of four Adani Group companies ranging from 8 to nearly 14 percent: Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, and Adani Transmissions," the report claimed.

In its defence, Adani Group said these news reports appear to be yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report.

"These attempts are aimed at, inter alia, generating profits by driving down our stock prices and these short sellers are under investigation by various authorities. As the Hon’ble Supreme Court and SEBI are overseeing these matters, it is vital to respect the ongoing regulatory process," it said, adding that the timing of these news reports is suspicious, mischievous and malicious.

In the wake of the allegations made in the Hindenburg report, the Supreme Court had formed an expert committee to investigate the matter and had also asked Sebi to conduct a separate investigation.

Last week, the market regulator said it has completed the investigation into whether Adani Group companies violated securities laws, but its yet to reveal specific findings.

The regulator said it would take "appropriate action based on the outcome of the investigations in accordance with law".

Sebi carried out 13 investigations into related-party transactions. The regulator also inquired into five cases linked to possible violation of insider trading rules.