The market value of all 11 Adani stocks dropped by almost Rs 2.25 lakh crore to Rs 12 lakh crore this morning, the worst trading day for the company since the Hindenburg explosion in early 2023, driven by a 20% collapse in three Adani Group equities.
According to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List, billionaire Gautam Adani's net wealth also fell by $10.5 billion to $59.3 billion.
Adani's flagship company, Adani Enterprises, saw its shares drop 20% to Rs 2,256.20. Adani, his nephew, and six other people were accused by US authorities in New York for allegedly paying $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials in order to obtain solar contracts.
At Rs 97.70, Adani Energy Solutions' stock has reached the 20% lower circuit limit. Adani Ports, the conglomerate's cash cow, too saw a 20% decline.
Adani Green, Adani Total Gas, Adani Power, Ambuja Cements, ACC, NDTV, and Adani Wilmar were among the other Adani equities that were trading at least 10% lower.
The bond market was also affected, as dollar bond values for Adani companies plummeted. According to LSEG statistics, prices for Adani Port and Special Economic Zone debt maturing in August 2027 dropped by more than five cents on the dollar.
Dollar bonds issued by Adani Transmission also saw a decline of more than five cents to trade just around 80 cents, while debt issued by Adani Electricity Mumbai that matured in February 2030 plunged by about eight cents.
The announcement is credit negative for Adani Group firms, according to Moody's Ratings on Thursday.
The head of the Adani Group and several high-ranking individuals were indicted on bribery accusations, which hurts the group's businesses' reputation. When evaluating the Adani Group, we primarily look at the group's governance procedures and the companies' capacity to get capital to satisfy their liquidity needs," Moody's stated.
Meanwhile, shares of Adani bull GQG, which after the Hindenburg crisis became one of the largest supporters of the Adani Group, dropped 26% in Australia.
"We are keeping an eye on the allegations against Gautam Adani and a few other Adani Group officials and businesses that were filed today by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Our team is analyzing the new information and deciding whether any changes for our portfolios are necessary," GQG stated.
Gautam Adani is accused of "defrauding American investors and bribing officials" in the case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Charged with "conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud, for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions through false and misleading statements" were Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, 30, executives of Adani Green Energy, and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global Ltd.
According to the accusation, Adani and the others paid bribes totaling around $265 million. Over a 20-year period, they anticipated that these contracts would yield $2 billion in profit. According to the prosecution, several participants in the conspiracy referred to Gautam Adani by code names such as "Numero uno" and "the big man."
In order to get more than $3 billion in loans and bonds for Adani Green Energy, the indictment further claims that Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and another officer, Vneet Jaain, concealed the bribes from investors and lenders.
The allegations are under the US legislation that prohibits bribery in international business transactions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H. Miller stated, "This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice."
"These offences were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of US investors," she stated.
