SEBI seeks 6-month extension to complete Hindenburg’s Adani probe: Report

India's market regulator has requested an additional six months to finish looking into any violations of securities laws or inadequate regulatory disclosures raised by short-seller Hindenburg Research on the part of billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani company.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) filed its request with the Supreme Court on Saturday, citing complex transactions involving listed, unlisted and offshore entities that require deeper investigations, the sources said.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India was to file a status report to the Supreme Court May 2, according to the report. The regulator didn’t reply to a request for comment, it said.

The Indian conglomerate Adani Group was accused by the New York-based Hindenburg in January. According to Bloomberg News on Friday, India's Adani Cement Industries Ltd. has paid back $200 million in the last week, reducing a $1 billion loan acquired from international banks to pay for the acquisition of Holcim AG's Indian businesses.

In the largest borrowing by the conglomerate since the organisation came under attack from a US short seller in January, billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani's group is looking to raise USD 1-1.5 billion for financing new green energy projects.

The group recently held a roadshow in Singapore, followed by another two-day roadshow in Hong Kong, talking to global financial institutions for the fundraising, sources said.

A ruining analysis by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which accused the Adani group of accounting fraud and stock price manipulation, was published in January. This precipitated a stock market decline that, at its lowest level, had wiped almost USD 145 billion from the conglomerate's market worth.

Over the last five years, Adani's debt has increased to USD 27 billion, but its asset base is now worth USD 60 billion, and its EBITDA is now USD 7.5 billion. The Adani family paid down USD 2.65 billion of share-backed debt and Ambuja acquisition debt during the previous quarter, which led to a quick deleveraging and ongoing investor confidence growth.