Adani Group shares plunge up to 20% post US SEC bribery, fraud charges

Gautam Adani, along with other executives, has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly bribing ($250 million) Indian officials.

Shares of Adani Group companies tanked up to 20 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after Gautam Adani, along with other executives, were charged by the US prosecutors for allegedly bribing ($250 million) Indian officials.

 

Shares of Adani Energy Solutions (20 per cent at Rs 697.70), Adani Enterprises (10 per cent at Rs 2,538.20), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (10 per cent at Rs 1,160.15), ACC (10 per cent at Rs 1,966.65) and Ambuja Cements (10 per cent at Rs 494.65) were locked at their respective lower circuits on the BSE at 09:16 am.

 

Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas, Adani Power, New Delhi Television (NDTV), Adani Wilmar and Sanghi Industries among other Adani Group stocks declined in the range of 10 per cent to 20 per cent in intra-day trades. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was down 0.57 per cent at 77,134.

 

Adani Group stocks (including Ambuja & ACC) may face selling pressure due to this news. However, there won’t be any impact in operational performance, ICICI Securities said in a note.

 

Gautam Adani, the billionaire chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world's richest, was indicted in New York over his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme, US prosecutors said on Wednesday.

 

Authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

 

Prosecutors also said the Adani's and another executive at Adani Green Energy, former CEO Vneet Jaain, raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors.

 

According to an indictment, some conspirators referred privately to Gautam Adami with the code names "Numero uno" and "the big man," while Sagar Adani allegedly used his cellphone to track specifics about the bribes. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT

 

Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg report, units of Adani Group scrapped a $600 million dollar bond on Thursday after US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, the group founder with participating in an alleged bribe plot. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT   "The United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a criminal indictment and brought a civil complaint, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, against our board members, Gautam Adani and Sagar  Adani. The United States Department of Justice have also included our board  member, Vneet Jaain, in such criminal indictment. In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD denominated bond offerings" Adani Green Energy said in an exchange filing on Thursday.