BENGALURU: Adani Group on Thursday said Vinod Adani is part of the ‘promoter group’ of various listed entities within the group. The group in an exchange filing clarified Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani are individual promoters of various listed entities within the Adani Group and Vinod Adani is an immediate relative of the individual promoters.
“Accordingly, as per the applicable Indian regulations, Vinod Adani is part of the ‘promoter group’ of various listed entities within the Adani Group. This fact has been submitted to Indian regulatory authorities from time to time in various disclosures,” it said.
The clarification comes after media reports suggested that ACC Limited and Ambuja Cements were actually controlled by Vinod Adani and not the Adani Group. The group in its clarification said the fact that Endeavour Trade and Investment Limited (an entity controlled by Vinod Adani), the acquirer of ACC Limited and Ambuja Cements Limited, belongs to the Adani Group has been disclosed in the public offer document and is also on the websites of Ambuja Cements, stock exchanges and was also filed with the financial market regulatory authority, SEBI.
However, this clarification goes against earlier claims made by the group that Vinod Adani has no role to play in any listed Adani Group companies. After short-seller Hindenburg Research in its report in January had raised questions on the ‘extent’ of Vinod Adani’s role in Adani Group, the group responded by saying Vinod Adani does not hold any managerial position in any Adani listed entities or their subsidiaries and has no role in their day-to-day affairs.
The report alleged that Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani, through several close associates, manages a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities. The report identified 38 Mauritius shell entities controlled by Vinod Adani or his close associates.
The report further claimed that many of the Vinod Adani-associated entities have no obvious signs of operations, including no reported employees, no independent addresses or phone numbers and no meaningful online presence.
Endeavour Trade belongs to Adani Group
Group said the fact that Endeavour Trade and Investment Limited (an entity controlled by Vinod Adani), an acquirer of ACC Limited and Ambuja Cements Limited, belongs to the Adani Group has been disclosed in the public offer document