Ok. This is in my personal capacity, and with no prejudice I'm trying to understand the allegations made here. Caveat emptor, but happy to be corrected in a civil manner and with facts. Thread begins+
https://twitter.com/HindenburgRes/status/1822308895454282053
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The main allegation seems to be: SEBI/SC didnt find anything wrong with Adani after our first report, and this is likely because SEBI chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch has some connection with the Adanis. What is that connection, follows...
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The main allegation seems to be: SEBI/SC didnt find anything wrong with Adani after our first report, and this is likely because SEBI chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch has some connection with the Adanis. What is that connection, follows...
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+ Vinod Adani has invested in a fund run by a AMC Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund Ltd (aka GDOF). This fund is called IPEplus Fund 1 (IPE). The CIO of this fund between 2014-2018 was Anil Ahuja. Anil has been on various Adani Boards. SO GDOF 'supposedly' connects to Adani.
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2nd doubt on IPE is the funds are managed by a Co. 360 One (360). So Anil Ahuja worked as a 360 employee. This 360 has "reported tied" to the Wirecard scandal. So these are the 2 allegations: 1. 360 linked to Wirecard, 2. Ahuja linked to Adani.
With me so far?
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2nd doubt on IPE is the funds are managed by a Co. 360 One (360). So Anil Ahuja worked as a 360 employee. This 360 has "reported tied" to the Wirecard scandal. So these are the 2 allegations: 1. 360 linked to Wirecard, 2. Ahuja linked to Adani.
With me so far?
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Lets examine each one.
1. Anil Ahuja is an IIT-IIM grad. He was the VP of Citi for 10 years, then CEO of JP Morgan Partners Asia for 8 years, then Asia Head for 3i Group for 9 years, before working for IPE btwn 2014-2018.
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Lets examine each one.
1. Anil Ahuja is an IIT-IIM grad. He was the VP of Citi for 10 years, then CEO of JP Morgan Partners Asia for 8 years, then Asia Head for 3i Group for 9 years, before working for IPE btwn 2014-2018.
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Yes, he was a director for Adani Enterprises for 9 years, but was also on the Board of HDFC Bank for 6 years.
Adani was one of the many things he did. So could he be a Adani front? Anything is possible, but given his long and varied career, is it likely? His CV extract:
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Yes, he was a director for Adani Enterprises for 9 years, but was also on the Board of HDFC Bank for 6 years.
Adani was one of the many things he did. So could he be a Adani front? Anything is possible, but given his long and varied career, is it likely? His CV extract:
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The second allegation that 360 is connected to the Wirecard scandal. How? The FT link Hindenburg has put in the write-up indicates the following facts:
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The second allegation that 360 is connected to the Wirecard scandal. How? The FT link Hindenburg has put in the write-up indicates the following facts:
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Amit Shah, a co-founder of a company called IIFL Wealth (now supposedly renamed 360 One) allegedly arranged for a company to be purchased for X ampunt, and just weeks later have it sold to Wirecard for 9X. Extract from FT below:
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Amit Shah, a co-founder of a company called IIFL Wealth (now supposedly renamed 360 One) allegedly arranged for a company to be purchased for X ampunt, and just weeks later have it sold to Wirecard for 9X. Extract from FT below:
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I don't know that case nor do I make any comment on it. That is for the courts to decide. But 360 is a listed company with market cap of ~$4.5bn. They may have many products for various clients. Are all those clients also now linked to Wirecard by this logic? Unlikely IMHO.
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I don't know that case nor do I make any comment on it. That is for the courts to decide. But 360 is a listed company with market cap of ~$4.5bn. They may have many products for various clients. Are all those clients also now linked to Wirecard by this logic? Unlikely IMHO.
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Now coming to how they link Madhabi Puri Buch (MPB) to Adani? This is via-via. Vinod Adani invested in IPE, MPB invested in IPE, so Adani and MPB are connected.
Lets examine this a little bit further then.
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Now coming to how they link Madhabi Puri Buch (MPB) to Adani? This is via-via. Vinod Adani invested in IPE, MPB invested in IPE, so Adani and MPB are connected.
Lets examine this a little bit further then.
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MPB's entire dealing with IPE:
June 2015: MPB opens A/c with IPE
March 2017: MPB's husband Dhaval given sole authority to transact with IPE
April 2017: MPB Appointed SEBI Wholetime Member
Feb 2018: All funds in IPE redeemed.
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June 2015: MPB opens A/c with IPE
March 2017: MPB's husband Dhaval given sole authority to transact with IPE
April 2017: MPB Appointed SEBI Wholetime Member
Feb 2018: All funds in IPE redeemed.
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As can be seen her dealing with IPE was well before her appointment to SEBI.
How much money did she make from the investment? None at all. A slight loss actually. At least based on what Hindenburg has uploaded:
Gets a bit more interesting next
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As can be seen her dealing with IPE was well before her appointment to SEBI.
How much money did she make from the investment? None at all. A slight loss actually. At least based on what Hindenburg has uploaded:
Gets a bit more interesting next
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Was IPE entirely invested in Adani Group shares? Maybe. Between the date MPB opened and closed her accounts, Adani Group shares had returned an average 30% (in $ terms) - table below. So it is UNLIKELY for IPE to have invested only in or even majorly in Adani shares.
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Was IPE entirely invested in Adani Group shares? Maybe. Between the date MPB opened and closed her accounts, Adani Group shares had returned an average 30% (in $ terms) - table below. So it is UNLIKELY for IPE to have invested only in or even majorly in Adani shares.
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The allegation that Hindenburg makes on MPB is quite bizzare. They ask why did she invest in an offshore structure when she could have invested in Indian MFs. Exact wordings below:
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The allegation that Hindenburg makes on MPB is quite bizzare. They ask why did she invest in an offshore structure when she could have invested in Indian MFs. Exact wordings below:
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This is bizzare on 2 counts:
1. If the assets of IPE were "miniscule" then how can they be used to distort Adani's share prices, and
2. As long as MPB didnt break any laws, she is free to diversify her investments as she sees fit. In fact, documents released by Hindenburg...
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This is bizzare on 2 counts:
1. If the assets of IPE were "miniscule" then how can they be used to distort Adani's share prices, and
2. As long as MPB didnt break any laws, she is free to diversify her investments as she sees fit. In fact, documents released by Hindenburg...
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itself suggests that MPB has networth of about US$10mn. So the number of US$0.87m is only 9% of her asset base. This seems to be just diversification. In fact as I mentioned earlier, this was quite a subpar investment (Nifty rose 28% in her IPE holding period)
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itself suggests that MPB has networth of about US$10mn. So the number of US$0.87m is only 9% of her asset base. This seems to be just diversification. In fact as I mentioned earlier, this was quite a subpar investment (Nifty rose 28% in her IPE holding period)
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They then make allegations on MPB as having a stake in a consultancy firm in Singapore called Agora Partners. She trf her stake to her husband in March 2022 just after being bade SEBI Chair. I do not know the legality of a SEBI WTM or Chair having such a stake tbh.
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They then make allegations on MPB as having a stake in a consultancy firm in Singapore called Agora Partners. She trf her stake to her husband in March 2022 just after being bade SEBI Chair. I do not know the legality of a SEBI WTM or Chair having such a stake tbh.
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Assuming their allegations are correct, I would leave it to lawyers to judge the irregularity there of. They seem to insinuate that there could be monies coming in to he as consulting fees but we don't know from whom. This is a shot in the dark more than anything else tbh.
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Assuming their allegations are correct, I would leave it to lawyers to judge the irregularity there of. They seem to insinuate that there could be monies coming in to he as consulting fees but we don't know from whom. This is a shot in the dark more than anything else tbh.
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Then they allege somethings about Dhaval Buch, MPB's husband. They say he joined Blackstone as a senior advisor despite him never having worked for a fund. If their allegation is that Blackstone hired him to get an "in" with the SEBI chair, then I think they need to
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Then they allege somethings about Dhaval Buch, MPB's husband. They say he joined Blackstone as a senior advisor despite him never having worked for a fund. If their allegation is that Blackstone hired him to get an "in" with the SEBI chair, then I think they need to
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direct their queries to Blackstone, unless they have proof of a direct quid pro quo.
Also Dhaval was the Chief Procurement Officer of Unilever. Unilever is one of the largest consumer companies in the world, where procurement is critical to their operations.
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direct their queries to Blackstone, unless they have proof of a direct quid pro quo.
Also Dhaval was the Chief Procurement Officer of Unilever. Unilever is one of the largest consumer companies in the world, where procurement is critical to their operations.
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To paint him as someone who didnt know the first thing about a fund, is disingenuous. There are several lateral hires esp in PE industry to get access to industry expertise.
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To paint him as someone who didnt know the first thing about a fund, is disingenuous. There are several lateral hires esp in PE industry to get access to industry expertise.
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The last major allegation is that she urged investors to have a "positive" view on REITs while Blackstone which has forayed into Indian real estate. So if MPB advocates investing in Mutual Funds will they accuse her of shilling for one of her prior employers who runs MFs?
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The last major allegation is that she urged investors to have a "positive" view on REITs while Blackstone which has forayed into Indian real estate. So if MPB advocates investing in Mutual Funds will they accuse her of shilling for one of her prior employers who runs MFs?
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I think this is really stretched connection unless Hindenburg has some direct or even indirect proof of a quid pro quo. In fact if anyone wanted to influence investors in India they would do better to get some youtube finance guru to do it rather than SEBI chair. kidding!
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I think this is really stretched connection unless Hindenburg has some direct or even indirect proof of a quid pro quo. In fact if anyone wanted to influence investors in India they would do better to get some youtube finance guru to do it rather than SEBI chair. kidding!
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All in all, I am quite disappointed with the lack of intellectual rigor that seems to have gone into preparation of this report. Again, I dont know what Adani's dealings are, but the supposed hit job on MPB has been really quite contrived, and in my opinion doesnt hold water.
All in all, I am quite disappointed with the lack of intellectual rigor that seems to have gone into preparation of this report. Again, I dont know what Adani's dealings are, but the supposed hit job on MPB has been really quite contrived, and in my opinion doesnt hold water.
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