Adani group reviewing matter in detail, will respond in fullness of time: Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Robbie Singh

Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Robbie Singh said on Saturday that none of the conglomerate's 11 public companies is subject to indictment. The group CFO also said that none of its issuers is accused of any wrongdoing in the said legal filing. "There is a lot of news and reports that will try to pick unrelated items and create a headline. My humble request is that we will respond in (the) fullness of time once we review in detail the matter as presented in the legal filing," Singh wrote on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter). 

"We will make a more detailed comment once we get counsel approvals to discuss what we can in public on matter that is sub-judice," he wrote. 

His remarks followed wild swings in the group's stocks after the news that its chairman Gautam Adani was charged in the US, among others including his nephew Sagar, for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for certain solar power contracts. The group termed the charges as "baseless". 

Most Adani group stocks were yet to recover losses of up to 23 per cent on Thursday, though some staged some recovery aided by a market-wide bounceback the next day. 

The Adani group has denied the allegations leveled by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Adani Green directors. Asserting that is is compliant with all laws, it has said that it will seek all possible legal recourse.

"We became aware of the 'specificity' of this 2 days ago. We were aware that something is afoot (and in Feb 2024 144a offering circular in Risk Factors we disclosed as such. This was first public issuance, of any of our portfolio companies or their subsidiaries or JV companies after our annual results of 31st March 2023)" wrote Singh. 

Hi All,
You would have seen a lot of news in the last 2 days re @AdaniOnline matters. This specifically relates to one contract of #adanigreen which is roughly 10% of overall business of Adani Green(there is a lot more precise & comprehensive detail of this which we will…

— Jugeshinder Robbie Singh (@jugeshinder) November 23, 2024

Meanwhile, rating agency has said that Gautam Adani's by US prosecutors could renew questions over the ports-to-energy conglomerate's governance practices and damage its reputation.

"The allegations could renew questions over the group's governance practices and damage its reputation. We will watch for any signs of weaker funding access or concerns from existing lenders -- which could be demonstrated by the lowering of funding limits, non-renewal of facilities, or significantly higher credit spreads," S&P Ratings wrote in a note.

The Adani group cancelled a $600 million concluded bond sale this week after the news.

Kenya cancelled multimillion-dollar airport expansion and energy deals with Adani.

Earlier, the Adani group was in the process of signing an agreement that would modernise Kenya's main airport in its capital Nairobi, with an additional runway and terminal constructed, in exchange for the group running the airport for 30 years.

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According to complaints filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), during the alleged scheme, Adani Green raised over $175 million from US investors, and Azure’s stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, who were former executives in renewable energy company Azure Power Global, and three former employees of the Canadian institutional investor Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, have also been charged in the indictment. 

The US court order comes roughly 22 months into the release of a report by US-based research firm and short-seller Hindenburg Research leveling serious charges against the Adani conglomerate including financial misconduct and stock manipulation. The Hindenburg report created ripples in the Indian capital market, causing Adani group investors to lose crores of rupees. The Adani group has denied those charges as well, calling the allegations baseless. 

The American research firm labelled the matter as “the largest con in corporate history”.