Shares of all Adani group companies rallied on Wednesday, with Adani Power Ltd and Adani Total Gas Ltd gaining 20%, thus bouncing back from the previous day, after a statement by Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL). In the regulatory filing, AEGL stated that its directors, Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, are not charged with violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment.
"Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Mr Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US department of justice (DoJ) or civil complaint of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These directors have been charged on three counts in the criminal indictment, namely (i) alleged securities fraud conspiracy, (ii) alleged wire fraud conspiracy, and (iii) alleged securities fraud," AEGL says.
On Wednesday morning, Adani Energy Solutions soared 7.71%, Adani Power by 5.96%, Adani Total Gas by 4.70%, Adani Green Energy by 4.34% and Adani Enterprises climbed 4.15% on the BSE.
Shares of NDTV were also up 3.61%, Adani Wilmar by 2.78%, Ambuja Cements by 1.92%, Adani Ports by 1.67%, Sanghi Industries by 1.71% and ACC up 1.37% during the morning trading on Wednesday.
Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) summoned Adani group chief Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, alleging their involvement in a US$265mn (million) bribery scheme.
According to the SEC complaint Azure Power Global Ltd, another stakeholder in the projects, is accused of collaborating with AGEL. The SEC alleges that Azure Power contributed to the bribes by transferring its rights to lucrative portions of the Andhra Pradesh projects to Adani Green. These transactions, the SEC claims, were structured to obscure the financial exchanges tied to the bribes.
In 2021, AGEL raised US$750mn through bond offerings, with US$175mn sourced from US investors. The SEC claims that offering materials, signed by Gautam and Sagar Adani, misrepresented the company's compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies. The bond documents highlighted Adani Green's adherence to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) principles and anti-corruption standards, which were instrumental in attracting investments from ESG-focused stakeholders. However, the SEC alleges that during this period, the defendants were actively bribing officials, undermining the ethical narrative presented to investors.
In parallel, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York has filed criminal charges against Gautam and Sagar Adani, Cyril Cabanes of Azure Power, and others. These charges include securities and wire fraud and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
The Adani group has vehemently denied the allegations made by the US department of justice and the SEC against directors of Adani Green, terming them 'baseless'.
On Wednesday, Adani Power and Adani Total Gas ended near their upper price band or about 20% higher at Rs523.80 and Rs694.25, respectively. Three scrips that closed 10% higher are Adani Enterprises (up 11.56% at Rs2398.35), Adani Green Energy (up 10% at Rs989.30) and Adani Energy Solutions, which also closed 10% up at Rs661.25.
NDTV gained 9.35% to end the day at Rs180.15, while Adani Wilmer and Adani Ports closed 8.46% and 6.29% higher at Rs314.90 and Rs1199.75, respectively.
Sanghi Industries, Ambuja Cements and ACC closed Wednesday 4% higher at Rs81.94, Rs515.15 and Rs2204, respectively.
The 30-share BSE Sensex also ended the day 230 points up at 80,234.
