Shares of Adani Group cos decline by 2-4% on OCCRP report
Shares of most Adani group companies fell 2-4% on Thursday as sentiment soured after a report by Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) — a network of investigative reporters backed by billionaire-philanthropist George Soros — alleged that business partners of the Adani family made large investments in its shares through 'opaque' Mauritius funds. The group lost nearly ₹35,200 crore in market capitalisation following the sell-off.
Shares of Adani Green Energy fell 4.3%, while Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission and Ambuja Cements fell nearly 4%.
ACC bucked the trend, ending marginally higher.
The OCCRP report claimed that it has reviewed several internal emails of the Adani group apart from files from tax havens and found at least two cases where investors used these offshore structures to buy and sell shares. OCCRP also said that these trades were carried out on instructions from a senior member of the Adani family.
The fresh allegations by OCCRP comes after the report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg in January whose accusations of the conglomerate indulging in accounting malpractices, lapses in corporate governance and manipulation in stock prices dragged down the group's shares.
Adani Group stocks have partially recovered from the sell-off triggered by Hindenburg report but many of them are still below the levels before the release of the Hindenburg report on January 25.
Adani Total Gas and Adani Energy Solution are currently trading 84% and 71% below their January 24 closing prices. The group has lost overall ₹8.7 lakh crore in market capitalization since then.
