Adani needs to pare down assets, SEBI needs to wake up: Mahua Moitra after DB Power deal collapse

All India Trinamool Congress MP from Krishnanagar, Mahua Moitra, said that Adani Group needs to pare down its assets and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) needs to wake up. Moitra was referring to Adani Power’s deal with DB Power that collapsed as the deadline to complete the Rs 7,017 crore deal ‘expired’. 

“Adani Power's Rs 7,000 crore deal to buy DB Power assets collapses. Overleveraged, non liquid Adani needs to pare down assets. True cost of capital for company far higher. Huge risk in stock. @NSEIndia needs to de-index, @SEBI_India needs to wake (sic),” said Moitra in a tweet. 

Adani Power’s planned Rs 7,017 crore acquisition of DB Power collapsed as the deadline to complete the transaction expired. In a filing, the company said that the long-stop date under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has expired. The companies had signed an agreement on August 18, 2022, according to which the initial term of the MoU was till October 31, 2022, which was subsequently pushed four times. The latest deadline was February 15, which also expired before the transaction could be completed. 

The Trinamool MP has been vocally critical of the conglomerate and the market regulator. She has been vociferously demanding SEBI to “do its job”. In an earlier tweet she said that the entire Adani fiasco has made a monkey of every Indian.

“Making a monkey of every Indian & insulting our collective intelligence. There is no conspiracy to tarnish India.  A crony capitalist breaks every rule in book to create house of cards at investors’ expense. @SEBI_India  do your job! This is not for SC to examine (sic),” she said referring to Supreme Court’s hearing of pleas on ‘conspiracy that tarnished India’. 

Meanwhile, she also slammed the government and the regulators at the Lok Sabha for not probing allegations against the conglomerate by Hindenburg Research. She alleged that Gautam Adani misused the system to acquire many businesses and that the government should launch a thorough probe. 

"Why has SEBI been the silent operator? Why would they permit a Rs 20,000 crore FPO without (submitting) an investigation report? Why didn't SEBI ask whether bankers had signed off on the valuation? How's Mr A's son's father-in-law allowed to be on the SEBI committee on insider trading and corporate governance? How?" Moitra asked at the Lok Sabha. "What about the DRI, what about customs? What about GST? What are they doing? This is the deception of the highest order," she alleged. 

Also read: Adani Power’s Rs 7,017-crore acquisition deadline of DB Power expires

Also read: 'Deception of highest order': Rules were bent for Adani Group, alleges TMC's Mahua Moitra