Adani’s 413-Page Hindenburg Reply Aims to Calm Before Share Sale

(Bloomberg) — Gautam Adani published a 413-page rebuttal of allegations of fraud by short seller Hindenburg Research, seeking to calm potential investors before the Indian billionaire’s flagship completes a $2.5 billion share sale.

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Some 65 of the 88 questions have been addressed in Adani’s public disclosures and the conduct of the American short seller “is nothing short of a calculated securities fraud under applicable law,” Adani Group said in a statement Sunday. It reiterated it will “exercise our rights to pursue remedies to safeguard our stakeholders before all appropriate authorities.”

The lengthy response comes in the last leg of the follow on offer by Adani Enterprises Ltd., which received overall subscriptions of 1% on Friday. While investors in Indian public offerings typically wait until the last day of the sale to place bids, there were concerns that Hindenburg’s attack on the country’s richest man would sour sentiment.

“This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India,” Adani said in its response.

Hindenburg had published a 100-page report on the eve of Adani’s share sale opening, alleging that its two-year investigation found “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud.” It also called out the conglomerate’s “substantial debt.” The firm, which said it has taken a short position in Adani’s companies through US-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivatives, declined to share details of the trade when reached by Bloomberg News.

Here are some key points (read the full text of Adani’s rebuttal here):

(Updates with details throughout.)