Adani Group says Hindenburg fraud claim 'calculated attack on India'

The company owned by Asia's richest man Gautam Adani has issued a detailed rebuttal of allegations of wrongdoing by short seller Hindenburg Research.

In a document, which runs to more than 400 pages, Adani Group says the report is a "calculated attack on India".

Later on Sunday, Hindenburg said "Adani failed to specifically answer 62 of our 88 questions" detailed in its report.

Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate, had more than $50bn (£40.4bn) wiped off its stock market value last week.

It also said that it had complied with all local laws and had made the necessary regulatory disclosures.

"All transactions entered into by us with entities who qualify as 'related parties' under Indian laws and accounting standards have been duly disclosed by us," Adani Group said in a 413-page document issued late on Sunday.

It went on to accuse the Hindenburg report of being intended to enable the US-based short seller to book gains, without citing evidence.

"This is rife with conflict of interest and intended only to create a false market in securities to enable Hindenburg, an admitted short seller, to book massive financial gain through wrongful means at the cost of countless investors," it added.

"Short-selling" is when someone bets against a company's share price in the expectation that it will fall.

In response Hindenburg said: "To be clear, we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future."

"We also believe India's future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation."

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It comes as Adani Group's flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, is this week pushing ahead with a $2.5bn share sale.

Last week, a report published by Hindenburg questioned the Adani Group's ownership of companies in offshore tax havens such as Mauritius and the Caribbean.

It also claimed Adani companies had "substantial debt" which put the entire group on a "precarious financial footing".

But on Thursday, Adani Group said it was evaluating "remedial and punitive action" against Hindenburg Research in the US and India.

Adani said it had always been "in compliance with all laws".

Also on Thursday, Hindenburg responded to Adani's comments, saying the firm had not addressed "a single substantive issue we had raised".

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