Adani Group Gets $400 Million Investment From UAE Royals In Share Sale
In order to restore confidence in the conglomerate that saw its value plummet by nearly $70 billion after a small New York short seller released a damning report, billionaire Gautam Adani’s troubled group clung to a $400 million (Rs 3,260 crore) investment by Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. in its flagship firm’s share sale.
The gap between Gautam Adani, 60, and rival Mukesh Ambani, whom he overtook in April of last year, has shrunk to just $4 billion. Adani was the third richest man in the world until a day before Hindenburg Research released its report on January 24 that raised concerns about its debt levels and alleged stock manipulation, accounting fraud, and use of tax havens.
In an effort to boost trust in the corporate empire, his group released a 413-page response to the Hindenburg report late on Sunday night. However, it was not well received; on Monday, key dollar bonds hit new lows and the stock values of the majority of group companies continued to decline.
A “fraud” cannot be obscured by nationalism or a bloated response that omitted major allegations, according to the US short seller, who rejected claims that its report on Adani Group’s wrongdoing was a “planned attack” on India.
On January 24, Hindenburg published the report, the same day that investors could purchase shares in Adani Enterprise Ltd.’s follow-on share sale worth 20,000 crore. While anchor investors poured in almost ₹ 6,000 crore in the FPO on that day, the public subscription remained muted with just 3 per cent of the shares on offer being subscribed till Monday evening, according to information available on BSE.
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