New Delhi, July 18 (Agency) The Hindenburg report was a deliberate, malicious attempt at damaging Adani Group’s reputation and generate profit by driving down its stocks in the short term, Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group today said while addressing shareholders. “We remain confident of our governance and disclosure standards. It is my commitment that we will continue to strive to improve governance and disclosure standards. Our track record speaks for itself,” Mr Adani said, expressing gratitude to stakeholders for their support during the challenging time. It’s worth noting that the Adani Group raised several billions from international investors, and no credit agency internationally cut any ratings of the Adani Group, he pointed out. The US-based short-seller published its report to short Adani Group stocks ahead of its Follow-On Public Offer (FPO), he added.
Adani Group was planning to launch the largest follow-on public offer in India’s history, and the Hindenburg report was a combination of targeted misinformation, and discredited allegations, the billionaire industrialist said. A majority of the allegations in the Hindenburg report dated from 2004 to 2015, Mr Adani said. “Parties with vested interests encouraged and promoted false narratives across various news and social media platforms, but Adani Group moved to protect investor interest. We decided to withdraw the FPO despite full subscription, and returned money to investors to protect their interests,” he said. A Supreme Court Expert Committee studying Hindenburg allegations, which made its report public in May 2023, found no instances of regulatory failure, he said. The Committee cited credible charges of targeted destabilisation of the Indian markets, and also confirmed the quality of our Group’s disclosures, Gautam Adani further said.