The titles of the Adani group continued to unscrew, Thursday, February 2, after the brutal announcement of the cancellation of a historic fundraising.
by Carole Dieterich ( Correspondence, New Delhi)
The turmoil worsens day by day. The conglomerate of the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has continued to sink into the crisis since the accusations of scam launched by the Hindenburg investment fund. So much so that the flagship of the group, Adani Enterprises, brutally announced on Wednesday 1 er February, that he canceled his record fundraising of $ 2.5 billion (2.3 billion D ‘euros), completed the day before. Investors will be reimbursed.
This sale of actions, perceived as a victory for the conglomerate of Gautam Adani, in the battle which opposes him to Hindenburg, did not allow to put an end to the stock market debacle that the group has known for a week for a week . The titles of Adani Enterprises recorded a colossal fall of 28 % on the Bombay Stock Exchange, Wednesday 1 er February.
“Given these extraordinary circumstances, the company’s board of directors considered that it would not be morally correct to carry out [the public offer] which has been subscribed,” said Gautam Adani in A statement published late on the evening of Wednesday. The latter argued the primordial interest of investors and his desire to protect them from any financial loss.
“Cancel this fundraising was a madness”
As part of its fundraising, Adani Enterprises sold its titles for a value ranging from 3,112 and 3,276 rupees (from 34.50 euros to 36.30 euros) per share. But, at the closing of the markets on Wednesday, they traded at 2,135 rupees, a loss of more than 30 % for investors.
Indian magnates would be among the subscribers of this offer. The billionaires Sajjan Jindal, at the head of the steel giant JSW Steel, and Sunil Mittal, founder of the telecommunications specialist Bharti Enterprises, would have drawn from their personal funds to buy titles of Adani Enterprises and thus steal from the rescue of M . Adani, according to information from Bloomberg.
After the conglomerate’s surprise decision to cancel its fundraising, the fall continued, Thursday, February 2 in the morning, at the opening of the markets. The titles of several companies in the group have unscrewed by more than 10 %, resulting in the immediate stopping of exchanges on the Bombay Stock Exchange. “Canceling this fundraising was a madness”, judge, with regard to the reaction of the markets, an Indian trader, who has interests in the group entities. 2> “shameless accounting fraud”
In a few days, the conglomerate, which previously weighed $ 222 billion (201.6 billion euros), lost more than 100 billion in its value. Gautam Adani, whose ascent was meteoric, saw $ 44 billion evaporate, that is to say a whole of his immense personal fortune, previously evaluated at nearly $ 120 billion. He lost his most rich man’s title in Asia on Wednesday. A place which he gave in to his great rival Mukesh Ambani, boss of reliance industries, which has long tried on the podium.
The rout of the Almighty Gautam Adani, close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was provoked by the publication, on January 24, of a report by the Hindenburg Research investment company. This in the open seller, who bets downwards on the markets, accused the group of “shameless accounting fraud, manipulation of actions and money laundering”. Qualifying the report as “unfounded” and “malicious”, Adani denounced an “attack on India”.
The ascent of Mr. Adani was made in the footsteps of Narendra Modi, which has remained silent since the start of this case. The Indian opposition demands a debate in Parliament, concerning the accusations brought by the Hindeburg report and the consequences that the fall in Adani titles could have on Indian investors.