Hindenburg Research Teases ‘Something Big’ in India

Hindenburg Research, the firm known for shorting Adani stocks and causing a significant drop in the conglomerate’s market value, recently posted a mysterious message on social media platform X. The post simply read, ‘Something big soon India.’

This cryptic message has stirred a lot of chatter online, with many users taking the opportunity to criticize Hindenburg Research. The timing of their post comes right after a recent report from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) concerning the Adani issue.

Among the responses, one user remarked, ‘Tool kit activated to distract more from Bangladesh,’ while another quipped, ‘Like the actual Hindenburg, I find your India coverage to be mostly hot air.’

It’s worth noting that Adani Enterprises had previously decided not to go ahead with a debut retail bond offering of up to ₹1000 crore after Hindenburg accused the group of improperly using offshore tax havens and manipulating stocks. Although Adani Group denied these claims, their shares plummeted in value by over $100 billion before making a recovery in late 2023.

According to Sebi, Hindenburg had shared an advance copy of its damaging report with hedge fund manager Mark Kingdon two months before it was made public. It appears that this led to significant profits based on market reactions.

A recent 46-page notice from Sebi detailed how Hindenburg, alongside Kingdon and a broker tied to Kotak Mahindra Bank, capitalized on the nearly $150 billion loss in market value of Adani’s firms after the report was out. Sebi accused Hindenburg of making ‘unfair’ profits from alleged collusion and inducing panic selling in Adani stocks.

In response, Hindenburg made the Sebi notice public, claiming it was an attempt to ‘silence and intimidate’ those exposing corruption in India. They also revealed that the vehicle used to short Adani’s flagship company belonged to Kotak Mahindra (International) Ltd, a subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank.