NEW DELHI: Adani group shares plunged sharply on Friday with the flagship Adani Enterprises falling 10% as the US authorities are said to be looking into representations made by the port-to-power conglomerate to its American investors over allegations of stock price manipulation raised by the short-seller Hindenburg Research.
According to a media report, the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn (New York) has sent inquiries in recent months to institutional investors with large holdings in the conglomerate. The requests for information were focused on what Adani Group told those investors.
Reacting to the report, Adani Group said that they are not aware of any such subpoena to investors.
“We strongly reject any suggestion that Adani Group and its businesses have not acted as per the regulations and accounting standards of the jurisdictions in which they operate,” said an Adani Group spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that their various issuers' groups remain confident that the disclosures are full and complete as disclosed in the relevant issuer offering circulars. “We request the media to avoid needless speculation at this time and wait for SEBI and the Hon’ble Supreme Court to complete their work and submit their findings,” said Adani Group.
Shares of flagship Adani Enterprises fell 10% to hit an intraday low of Rs 2,163.30 on Friday before closing the session 7% lower at Rs 2,229 on the NSE. Adani Transmission plunged 5.55% to Rs 759.75 while Adani Ports settled 4.44% lower at Rs 712.50.
Adani Total Gas hit a fresh 52-week low `630 before closing 3% lower at Rs 636, and Adani Power slipped 5.49% to Rs 242.50. Adani Wilmar tanked 3%, Adani Green 2%, ACC Cement 3%, Ambuja Cement 4.46% and NDTV 3.55%. Following this bloodbath, the market capitalisation of the listed Adani Group companies fell back below the `10 lakh crore mark for the first time in a month.
Adani Group, led by India’s second richest person Gautam Adani, is facing one of its biggest challenges to come clean after Hindenburg in a report published on January 24 accused it of stock price manipulation via improper use of tax havens. The serious allegations, which had earlier wiped out the Group’s m-cap by about `12 lakh crore, have been denied by the Adani Group.