Adani Group Plunges After US Activist Short Seller’s Report
By For days, shares of companies in the Adani Group conglomerate have been on a downward spiral. It all began with a damning report released by a US activist short seller– an investor who bets on the prices of assets falling.[0] The report, released by Hindenburg Research, accused Adani of running “the largest con in corporate history” with allegations of artificially inflated share prices and accounting games.[1] Adani Group has since released a 400-page rebuttal, but investors have not been swayed.[2] In a week, the total market value of Adani-related companies across energy and construction industries had dropped by $90 billion.[0]
This has resulted in a drastic loss of wealth for Adani, who before the report was Asia’s wealthiest man.[2] According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, he has since dropped to 21st place. The allegations of stock manipulation and money laundering by Hindenburg Research have caused widespread mayhem in Indian markets.
The lack of transparency and accountability within the Adani Group has been revealed through the Hindenburg report.[3] Their listed companies are significantly overleveraged and overvalued, with a relationship between price and earnings of more than 800 times.[3] In addition, their promoter ownership is just below the legal limit.[3] All of these factors together paint a picture of a conglomerate that is highly opaque and needs to be more closely monitored.[3]
Questions have been raised about the potential for Adani to use his close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to gain advantage in India’s state institutions. Modi has flown around on an aircraft owned by Adani, and accompanied him on numerous trips abroad.[4] As Modi’s power has grown, so too have the concerns about Adani’s influence. The recent revelations have raised serious questions about the way the Adani Group is run and the power dynamics of India’s political and corporate landscape.
0. “How Hindenburg Research Costs India's Adani Group Empire $100 Billion” Bloomberg, 8 Feb. 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-09/adani-share-price-collapse-will-reverberate-in-india
1. “NYU's ‘Dean of Valuation' says Adani Group exploited ‘weakest links' in Indian institutions” CNBC, 9 Feb. 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/09/nyus-aswath-damodaran-adani-exploited-weakness-in-indian-institutions.html
2. “Gautam Adani will be playing defense for a while after mauling by short seller” CNN, 10 Feb. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/10/business/india-adani-hindenburg-report-impact-intl-hnk/index.html
3. “D Raja writes on Adani-Hindenburg: It is time to fix accountability” The Indian Express, 11 Feb. 2023, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/d-raja-writes-on-adani-hindenburg-time-to-fix-accountability-8439095/
4. “Adani Scam Tests the Credibility of India's Institutions” The Diplomat, 7 Feb. 2023, https://thediplomat.com/2023/02/adani-scam-tests-the-credibility-of-indias-institutions
