Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Gautam Adani, is allegedly in control of the companies that run Ambuja Cements and ACC, according to a revelation that surfaced more than a month after Hindenburg Research said he oversaw a network of offshore businesses used to perpetrate fraud at the Adani Group.
The Morning Context reported on Monday that Adani Group does not own the two cement companies that it purchased last year.
Adani Group announced in September of last year that it had paid $10.5 billion to acquire Ambuja and ACC from Swiss cement giant Holcim, overtaking Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech Cement as the nation’s second-largest cement producer. In order to complete the purchase, the Adani Group established Endeavour Trade and Investment Limited as a special-purpose vehicle. In a statement following the deal, the group made reference to this.
Today’s article, however, asserts that Vinod Adani owns this organization, which has its headquarters in Mauritius. The report stated,
“This means neither Adani Enterprises nor any of the Adani group’s other listed companies in India or its subsidiaries bought Ambuja Cements/ACC,”
despite what group chairman Gautam Adani had claimed to the general public and shareholders.
As a result of fraud allegations made by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, the Adani Group is already under intense examination. The Indian conglomerate was accused by the short-seller of “brazen stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud” in its damning report, which was released on January 24.
The Adani Group reportedly acquired Ambuja Cements and ACC by means of a network of offshore corporations rather than a direct overseas entity, according to a report published today. According to the Ambuja Cements final offer letter, “it has now come to light that Mr. Vinod Shantilal Adani and Mrs. Ranjanben Vinod Adani are the ultimate beneficial owners of Endeavour through corporations headquartered in Mauritius, Dubai, and the British Virgin Islands,” the report stated.
In a statement outlining the deal’s specifics with Holcim, Adani Group stated that it was financed by $4.50 billion in facilities obtained from 14 international banks. The initial designated lead arrangers and book-runners for the transaction were Barclays Bank PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, and Standard Chartered Bank.
