Vinod Adani Is Part of Promoter Group: Clarifies Adani Enterprises

Moneylife Digital Team 17 March 2023

Investor Interest

Gautam Adani-led Adani group on Thursday clarified that, as per the applicable Indian regulations, Vinod Adani, elder brother of the group head, is part of the promoter group of various listed entities within the group.

In a regulatory filing, Adani Enterprises Ltd, the group flagship company, says, "We would like to submit that Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani are individual promoters of various listed entities within the Adani group and Vinod Adani is an immediate relative of the individual promoters. Accordingly, as per the applicable Indian regulations, Vinod Adani is part of the 'promoter group' of various listed entities within the Adani group. This fact has been submitted to Indian regulatory authorities from time to time in various disclosures."

"Further, the fact that Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd (an entity controlled by Vinod Adani), the acquirer of ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements Ltd, belongs to the Adani group has been disclosed in the public offer document (letter of offer) dated 19 August 2022 on page 22, which is available at https://www.acclimited.com/newsite/pdf/Letter-of-Offer-22-08-22.pdf and also on the websites of Ambuja Cements, stock exchanges and was also filed with the regulatory authority, SEBI," it added.

Earlier in January, US-based research firm Hindenburg Research had alleged that offshore shell entities directed by or associated with Vinod Adani, the elder brother of chairman Gautam Adani, have been used for stock parking or stock manipulation or engineering Adani's accounting. These entities included 38 entities in Mauritius, along with others in the UAE, Cyprus, Singapore and various Caribbean islands.

According to Adani group, all transactions entered into by it with entities who qualify as 'related parties' under Indian laws and accounting standards have been duly disclosed. "Further, these have been carried out on arm's length terms in accordance with applicable laws. Further, these are also disclosed by us, are publicly available to all regulators and our stakeholders, and have been duly verified and audited by independent third parties who are competent and have the required expertise in this respect," it added.

However, Hindenburg says, in its response, Adani did not seem to dispute the existence of these transactions and made no effort to explain their obvious irregularities. Instead, it says, "Adani bizarrely argued that Vinod Adani is not a related party to the Adani group, and that there are no disclosable conflicts relating to the transactions that have collectively moved billions of US dollars through Adani group entities, largely through offshore shell entities." (Read: Adani Replies with 413-Page Report; Hindenburg Says Fraud Cannot Be Camouflaged with Patriotism)

Separately, the Congress party also has been asking questions about central role played by Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod in Adani group affairs. (Read: Congress Asks 3 Questions on Vinod Adani, Elara Capital and Chang Chung-Ling)

Comments