Adani's Abu Dhabi backer says business decisions based on facts

Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Co., which has invested almost $2 billion in companies owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, said its business decisions are based on facts after a scathing report on the Indian tycoon’s business empire by US short seller Hindenburg Research.

“Our business decisions are purely based on an analysis of objective facts,” said Ahmad Ibrahim, a spokesman for IHC, in a statement to Bloomberg.

That’s “aided by the use of business intelligence and our analytics tools, which help us to achieve the maximum benefits for our shareholders under the corporate governance regulation.”

More than $50 billion of market value has been wiped of Adani’s corporate empire after Hindenburg issued a report on Jan. 24 detailing wide-ranging allegations of corporate malpractice following a two-year investigation into the tycoon’s companies. Adani has said it’s exploring legal action after what it called the “maliciously mischievous, unresearched” report by the short seller.

“As a policy, IHC does not comment on other organizations’ business activities,” IHC’s Ibrahim said.

Adani Enterprises Ltd., the group’s flagship firm, in April raised 77 billion rupees ($944 million) by issuing preferential shares to IHC, while Adani Green Energy Ltd. and Adani Transmission Ltd. received 38.5 billion rupees.

IHC was among Middle Eastern investors bidding to buy stock in Adani’s $2.5 billion share sale, Bloomberg News reported earlier this week. IHC, led by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan — the UAE’s national security adviser and brother to the president — had planned to buy the largest chunk of around $200 million in offering.