Bill Ackman says Hindenburg’s Adani report ‘highly credible’

(Reuters) – Billionaire U.S. investor Bill Ackman said on Thursday that he found short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report on India’s Adani Group “highly credible and extremely well researched.”

Shares in seven listed group companies of Adani lost $10.73 billion in market capitalization in India on Wednesday after the U.S. short-seller released the report, which accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens.

Hindenburg’s report also said it held short positions in Adani Group through its U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments.

Adani Group has said that it is  evaluating “remedial and punitive action” against Hindenburg, calling the report “maliciously mischievous, (and) unresearched.”

Shortly after, Hindenburg said it will demand documents in legal discovery process if Adani Group files a lawsuit in the United States.

“Adani’s response to Hindenburg is the same as Herbalife’s response to our original 350-page presentation. Herbalife remains a pyramid scheme. I found the Hindenburg report highly credible and extremely well researched,” Pershing Square boss Ackman said in a tweet on Thursday.

“We are not invested long or short in any of the Adani companies or Herbalife, nor have we done our own independent research,” he added.

Ackman bet $1 billion against Herbalife starting in 2012, saying it violated Chinese direct-selling laws and was a pyramid scheme.

He exited his short in Herbalife at a loss in 2018 when his bets went awry, with the shares of the weight management and nutrition company rising more than 150%.

Adani Group did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)