INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
its banks put out some particularly complicated filings.On page 21 of an 85-page document, was a diagram of seven unlisted firms registered
in the British Virgin Islands, Mauritius and Dubai
international spotlight after short seller Hindenburg Research named him prominently in its scathing report on the Adani group that fueled a
rout of more than $140 billion in its shares
in Mauritius, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and several Caribbean Islands
familiar with the matter said
A close confidant of Gautam, Vinod likes to keep a low profile and deals directly with family members, the person said
Still, the Adani family plans to look more closely at some of the entities it has built to see how best to structure them going forward in
order to reassure investors, the person said.The network of small firms built by the Adani dynasty offers one of the starkest reminders yet
While many companies have hired professional managers, others are still dominated by familial ties that can make it harder for banks and
investors to fully know whom they are doing business with, where the money is flowing and what regulatory minefields might loom
Vinod is a billionaire via his share holdings in listed Adani group companies
Still, he lives a largely quiet life in Dubai, people familiar with the matter said
A filing in Cyprus puts his age at 74
The Adani group is a vast conglomerate with listed and unlisted subsidiaries doing business in everything from ports to power, with a reach
spanning from India to Africa and Australia
Several debt filings include Vinod as a key figure within the conglomerate, saying the Adani group should be understood to mean Vinod,
Gautam and another brother Rajesh, who is managing director, as well as other entities such as a family trust
In the days when Gautam was a student and stayed with Vinod, he considered him a father figure and Vinod was his official guardian, Bhaskar
was completed via a Mauritius-based entity called Endeavour Trade and Investment
Indian regulators approved the open offer
At the address listed for Endeavour in Mauritius were the offices of Amicorp, an outside company that provides legal and administrative
Hindenburg alleges in its report that Amicorp has worked widely to help the Adani group to build a network of offshore entities
Alex Cobham, an economist and chief executive of the UK-based Tax Justice Network said that the multiple layers, the relative lack of
transparency of the jurisdictions and the type of entities used for the cement deal pose several risks for investors and regulators
Popular addresses for financial firms, they are home to businesses belonging to the Adani group as well as others to Vinod
On the 36th floor of one tower is an office with three name plates outside saying: Emerging Market Investment DMCC, RVG Exim DMCC, and Adani
On its website, Emerging Market Investment DMCC says Vinod is its promoter, the term used in India for founders and owners.The three company
names are also mentioned in the Hindenburg report as being among dozens of shell entities in offshore tax havens
Emerging Market Investment DMCC has played prominently in the back-and-forth between the Adani group and Hindenburg
Hindenburg said the firm lent $1 billion to a subsidiary of a listed unit called Adani Power, and questioned the source of those funds
In reality, Emerging Market Investment DMCC acquired the unsustainable debt of a power business from lenders for $100, the conglomerate said
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The biggest cabin in this office is used by Vinod, a sign of respect granted to an older family member, said one person familiar with the
Adani, like his brother Gautam, was born into a family of a small textile merchant from the Western Indian state of Gujarat
After starting his career running power looms for a business in Mumbai in 1976, Vinod expanded his commodities portfolio to Singapore,
according to advertorials published about him in the Indian press seven years ago
Vinod moved to Singapore briefly before relocating to Dubai where he made his fortune in trading sugar, oil, aluminum, copper and iron
scrap, the media reports said
The billionaire is a follower of the Jain religion that emphasizes vegetarianism and non-violence
Vinod suffered his own hit as the value of his shares held through Emerging Market Investment DMCC dropped
tycoons, said the allegations against Adani have shone a bad light on the country and in particular companies run by a network of relatives
The allegations about the Adani family risk tarring large swathes of Indian industry, even though many businesses have largely
professionalized their management over recent years, this person said.Alice Wang, a London-based portfolio manager at Quaero Capital LLP,
said that in emerging markets like India, family networks can be critical in the early stages of developing a business
