Adani Enterprises dismissed reports of appointing Grant Thornton for an independent audit of books as a ‘market rumour’, but fell short of explicitly confirming it, or denying it as untrue. “We would like to clarify that the said news item appears to be a market rumour and hence it would be inappropriate on our part to comment on it,” Adani Enterprises said in a clarification issued to stock exchanges, in response to a news report that said that the group has hired Grant Thornton to independently audit some of its companies in a bid to come clean of the damning allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research, and to assure investors and regulators.
On February 14th, Reuters reported that the Adani Group has appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton for independent audits of some of its companies in a bid to discredit claims by short-seller Hindenburg Research that have battered its stocks and bonds. Adani Group was considering the independent evaluation of issues relating to legal compliance, related party transactions and internal controls following the Hindenburg report, the Reuters reportage mentioned.