The beleaguered empire of the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani is spiralling into crisis, as an escalating stock rout triggered by fraud claims cuts the value of his conglomerate in half.
Traders sent shares in the listed flagship Adani Enterprises down more than 25% shortly after markets opened in Mumbai on Friday, despite attempts by the company to restore investor confidence. Other listed entities, such as Adani Green Energy and Adani Ports, were also down sharply.
The relentless selling has now wiped more than US$115bn from the value of Adani companies in the two weeks since US-based Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
Adani companies were worth a combined US$220bn before the report was published.
The companies, spanning ports, power, coal and renewables, accused Hindenburg in a 413-page rebuttal of engaging in a calculated attack on India, while noting that the US investor, an activist short seller that profits from falling share prices, is making money from the chaos.
The plunging share prices raise questions about how Adani, which runs Australia’s contentious Carmichael coalmine and rail project in Queensland, can raise capital when the market has turned so aggressively against it. There is also the prospect of forced asset sales.
Reuters reported that Adani entities made scheduled payments on outstanding bonds on Thursday, adding that the conglomerate plans to issue a credit report by the end of the week to address liquidity concerns.
Pressure on Adani’s finances intensified this week after it abandoned a much-vaunted US$2.5bn share sale, which would have been used, in part, to pay down debt. The fundraising was pulled because participating investors would have suffered large losses should the sale have gone ahead given falling share price movements.
“We have an impeccable track record of servicing our debt,” Adani said in a video address after abandoning the fundraising. “This decision will not have any impact on our existing operations and future plans.”
The billionaire chairman has support from a prominent Abu Dhabi investor with ties to the royal family, along with investor and political support from within India.
On Friday, Adani responded to critics of his apparent close ties to India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, dismissing claims his companies had avoided oversight.
“The fact of the matter is that my professional success is not because of any individual leader,” he told India Today television, according to an AFP report.
Political opposition groups in India are pressuring parliament to debate the impact of the Adani fraud claims on investors and the country’s banking sector. There are also calls for an independent probe into the allegations.
The most dramatic claims refer to what Hindenburg calls a “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme” that has driven up the price of the listed Adani companies, and inflated the net worth of its billionaire chairman.
Hindenburg alleges that this is done by using shell companies to manipulate the price of the listed ones by holding large positions.
Adani has denied the allegations and said any dealings with related parties were properly accounted for.
The chairman’s personal net worth has taken a significant hit, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index. After sitting alongside Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates among the world’s richest just a couple of weeks ago, Adani has dropped out of the top 20 once Friday’s share price falls are taken into account.
