Adani Group hires US legal firm Wachtell to fight against Hindenburg

Gautam Adani-led Adani Group has retained US law firm Wachtell to defend itself against recent allegations by short seller Hindenburg Research, according to a report. Adani Group has reportedly hired senior lawyers at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to help it deal with the problem the company is currently facing, according to a British daily news article.

The New York-based law firm specializes in corporate law and often deals with significant and complex transactions. Over the past week, share prices of companies in the Adani group have fallen sharply following a report that claimed the conglomerate was manipulating shares and fraud. Adani Group attacked Hindenburg as an "unethical short seller" and said the New York-based entity's report was "nothing but a lie".

Adani Enterprises Limited, the group's flagship, has called off a fully subscribed follow-on public offering of Rs 20,000 crore amid continued sell-offs in the group's shares. On January 29, Adani Group released a lengthy 413-page report claiming that the recent Hindenburg Research was not an attack on any particular company but rather a "calculated attack" on India, its growth trajectory and its ambitions.

"This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a 'calculated attack' on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India," it said. The following decline in share prices benefits a short seller in the securities market.