NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) – India’s Adani group shares sank on Thursday after it abandoned its flagship company’s $2.5 billion stock offering, swelling the conglomerate’s market losses to more than $100 billion and sparking worries about the potential systemic impact.
The withdrawal of Adani Enterprises’ (ADEL.NS) share sale caps a dramatic setback for Gautam Adani, the school dropout-turned-billionaire whose fortunes rose rapidly in recent years but dwindled over the past one week after a U.S.-based short-seller published a critical research report.
The events are an embarrassing turn for Adani who has forged partnerships with foreign giants such as France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and investors such as Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company as he pursues a global expansion of businesses that stretch from ports and mining to cement and power.
Adani late on Wednesday called off the share sale as a stocks rout sparked by short-seller Hindenburg’s criticisms intensified, despite the offer being fully subscribed on Tuesday.
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Adani Enterprises plunged nearly 20% on Thursday, trading at its lowest since March 2022. Other group companies were also under pressure – Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) was down 5%, while Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) lost 10% each.
Since Hindenburg’s report was released on Jan. 24, group companies have lost nearly half their combined market value. Adani Enterprises – described as an incubator of Adani’s businesses – alone has lost $24 billion in market capitalisation.
Adani, 60, is also no longer Asia’s richest person, having slid in the rankings of the world’s wealthiest to 16th, as per Forbes’ list, from third last week.
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“Unless Adani is able to regain the confidence of institutional investors, stocks will be in freefall,” said Avinash Gorakshakar, head of research at Mumbai-based Profitmart Securities.
Adani’s plummeting stocks have raised concerns about the likelihood of a wider impact on India’s financial system.
India’s central bank has asked local banks for details of their exposure to the Adani group of companies, government and banking sources told Reuters on Thursday. CLSA estimates that Indian banks were exposed to about 40% of the 2 trillion rupees ($24.53 billion) of Adani group’s debt in the fiscal year to March 2022. read more
Citigroup’s (C.N) wealth unit has stopped extending margin loans to its clients against securities of Adani group and decided to cut the loan-to-value ratio for credit against Adani securities to zero on Thursday, said a source.
“We see the market is losing confidence on how to gauge where the bottom can be and although there will be short-covering rebounds, we expect more fundamental downside risks given more private banks (are) likely to cut or reduce margin,” Monica Hsiao, Chief Investment Officer of Hong Kong-based credit fund Triada Capital, said.
In New Delhi, opposition lawmakers submitted notices in the Indian parliament, demanding discussion on the U.S. short-seller’s report. The Congress party demanded setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a Supreme Court monitored investigation into the matter.
ADANI VS HINDENBURG
Hindenburg’s report last week alleged an improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation by the Adani group. It also raised concerns about high debt and the valuations of seven listed Adani companies.
The Adani group has denied the accusations, saying the short-seller’s allegation of stock manipulation has “no basis” and stems from an ignorance of Indian law. The group has always made the necessary regulatory disclosures, it added.
Earlier this week, the Adani group said it had the complete support of investors, but investor confidence has tapered in recent days.
As shares plunged after the Hindenburg report publication, Adani managed to secure the share sale subscriptions on Tuesday even though the stock’s market price was below the issue’s offer price. But on Wednesday, stocks plunged again.
Maybank Securities and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, as well as India’s Life Insurance Corporation (LIFI.NS), had bid for the anchor portion of the issue. Those investments will now be returned by Adani.
In a late night announcement on Wednesday, the billionaire said he was withdrawing the share sale as the company’s “stock price has fluctuated over the course of the day. Given these extraordinary circumstances, the company’s board felt that going ahead with the issue will not be morally correct.”
Early on Thursday, Adani said in a video address the “interest of my investors is paramount and everything is secondary. Hence, to insulate the investors from potential losses we have withdrawn” the share sale.
Reporting by Chris Thomas, Nallur Sethuraman, Tanvi Madan, Ira Dugal, Aftab Ahmed, Sumeet Chatterjee, Anshuman Daga, Summer Zhen; Writing by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman
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Batgirl star Leslie Grace has broken her silence about the DC Comics movie being scrapped by HBO Max.
Grace, who broke out last year in the musical In the Heights, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share her thoughts on the streamer’s surprising decision not to release the film at all, even though it was already filmed and in post-production. (The film was reportedly the victim of cost-cutting efforts at HBO Max’s parent company, the newly merged Warner Brothers Discovery.)
“Querida familia!” Grace wrote. “On the heels of the recent news about our movie Batgirl, I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over 7 months in Scotland. I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan — THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, ‘my own damn hero!’ #Batgirl for life!”
Grace was first cast as Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, last July, with Brendan Fraser as villain Firefly, J.K. Simmons as Barbara’s father Commissioner Gordon and Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne, aka Batman. But now the movie won’t see the light of day, either on HBO Max or in theaters, with a Warner spokesperson saying that “the decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max.”
Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Ms. Marvel) also released a statement after the movie was shelved, saying they are “saddened and shocked by the news… As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves.”
Strategic Resource Group managing director Burt Flickinger discusses why consumer spending numbers are dropping.
Large cities across the world are canceling their New Year’s Eve celebrations due to the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus while others are forging ahead with their plans.
The iconic New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City will go ahead as scheduled but will be “scaled back”, Mayor Bill De Blasio says, as party–goers will have to be fully vaccinated, wear face masks and practice social distancing measures amid the spread of the omicron variant.
COVID-19 OMICRON VARIANT IS LESS LIKELY TO PUT PEOPLE IN THE HOSPITAL, STUDIES SUGGEST
WalletHub recently released a report on the best cities to celebrate the new year and New York City was at the top of the list. (iStock)
“New Yorkers have stepped up tremendously over the past year – we are leading the way on vaccinations, we have reopened safely, and every day we work toward building a recovery for all of us,” the mayor of the largest American city explained. “There is a lot to celebrate, and these additional safety measures will keep the fully vaccinated crowd safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year.”
Other cities across the globe took a different approach and canceled New Year’s Eve celebrations altogether.
There will be no fireworks show at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece this year and authorities canceled all local Christmas and New Year’s Eve events.
The German cities of Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich have all canceled their firework celebrations and have prohibited large gatherings due to a feared “fifth wave” of the coronavirus.
WHITE HOUSE LIFTING OMICRON TRAVEL BAN ON SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTRIES AMID SPREAD IN US
Beautiful colorful firework display over sea on celebration night. (iStock / iStock)
Celebrations have also been canceled in Edinburgh, Scotland; London, England; New Delhi, India; Paris, France; and Rome, Italy.
However, many prominent celebrations are still scheduled to take place including in Las Vegas, Nevada, where fireworks will be launched from the top of eight casinos on the Strip for eight minutes along with a firework show in Downtown Las Vegas.
After officials in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, initially said New Year’s Eve celebrations will not be held, the city backtracked and now says the show will go on.
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Fireworks celebrations are scheduled to be held in Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; and Chicago, Illinois.
Workers, left, change their medical gloves as people are tested for COVID-19 at a walk-up testing site at Farragut Square, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, just blocks from the White House in Washington. The worldwide surge in coronavirus cases driven by the (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin / AP Newsroom)
In Seattle, Washington, the usual fireworks show atop the Space Needle will take place online using special effects that can only be seen by people who tune in virtually.
The omicron variant has already caused many headaches during the holiday season leading to the cancellation of thousands of flights due to staffing shortages that are likely to affect New Year’s Eve travelers.
Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.
Two new British studies provide some early hints that the omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than the delta version and seem to bolster earlier research that suggests omicron may not be as harmful, leading to fewer hospitalizations.
Manchester United had planned to give Michael Carrick until mid-December before making a breakthrough with Ralf Rangnick — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: The Old Trafford outcasts who could yet get a second chance under the interim boss.
Jump to: Man Utd fringe stars put exit plans on hold | Gerrard, AI and a Villa masterplan | Barcelona fear Premier League interest in Araujo | Klopp keen on Juventus’ Ramsey | Chelsea relaxed over Mount exit rumours
United move quickly to secure Rangnick
Manchester United ditched plans to give caretaker Michael Carrick as many as six more games in charge after Ralf Rangnick emerged as the outstanding candidate during interviews to find the club’s interim manager, sources told ESPN.
Carrick was told to prepare for a longer period in charge than expected, with the club setting an original date of Brighton at home on Dec. 18 as the target for an interim to be appointed — only vowing to accelerate plans for an interim if a stellar option emerged. Rangnick has agreed to take over until the end of the season following a breakthrough in discussions with the 63-year-old, who is set to leave his position as sporting director at Lokomotiv Moscow.
– Exclusive interview: Rangnick speaks to ESPN – Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only) – Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access
Caretaker Carrick, who will oversee United’s trip to Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday, had the confidence of the United hierarchy to steer the team during a busy fixture period. The trip to Stamford Bridge marks the first of six games in 16 days following the 2-0 win over Villarreal to seal Champions League knockout qualification on Tuesday. The club wanted to wait longer before they made their appointment of an interim, despite facing criticism — even ridiculue — for the way they had approached matters following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal.
Sources said that “market forces” had left United with no option but to pursue the strategy, saying that the club were not in the fortunate position enjoyed by Liverpool and Chelsea when they appointed Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel respectively, with both coaches out of work and available when changes were made in the managerial department at Anfield and Stamford Bridge.
Football director John Murtough held talks with former Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde and Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui was also contacted as the club conducted a thorough search for a temporary boss. Sources close to Rangnick said he initially distanced himself from the idea he could be interested in a job at United, but a breakthrough came when a consultancy role was offered as part of the deal. Part of Murtough’s role at United in recent years has been to build a rapport with key figures in football around Europe and he enjoys a good relationship with Rangnick, with the pair also holding talks in 2019 about football development plans.
The club’s initial choice for the permanent position is Mauricio Pochettino, but that decision was made before Rangnick’s arrival. The terms of Rangnick’s advisory role after the interim management job ends have not been made clear but sources added he is expected to play a leading role in choosing a permanent successor to Solskjaer. — Mark Ogden
Martial, Van de Beek’s second chance
Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial have put their January transfer plans on hold ahead of Rangnick’s imminent arrival, sources told ESPN.
Caretaker manager Carrick had been keen to stress to the squad that every member has a clean slate following Solskjaer’s departure and Van de Beek and Martial were encouraged by their selection for the 2-0 win over Villarreal, and will now re-asses their options ahead of Rangnick taking over. Despite interest from a host of other clubs, their preference is to find regular games at Old Trafford and the pair will see how they fit in over the next six weeks before deciding whether or not to push for a move.
Jesse Lingard’s future remains unclear, with the midfielder free to speak to oversees clubs in January as his contract expires at the end of the season. Rangnick, though, bases his coaching philosophy on high energy and high pressing — he is known as the “Godfather of Gegenpressing” in Germany and Klopp cites him as an influence on his career — a stance that fits in with Lingard’s style of play and could yet hand him a final chance to stake a claim for playing time.
United remain keen to keep the bulk of the squad together, especially after qualifying for the knockout rounds of the Champions League, which is due to begin in the new year. The draw for the round of 16 takes place on Dec. 13.
United’s FA Cup campaign will also start in January, though a poor start to the season under Solskjaer has increased the pressure on the second half of the campaign as the club look to at least finish in the top four and retain their place in the Champions League next season. — Rob Dawson
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Julien Laurens explains why Steven Gerrard swapping Rangers for Aston Villa makes a lot of sense.
Gerrard’s new signing at Villa: Artificial intelligence
Steven Gerrard is attempting to make an Artificial Intelligence tool his first signing as Aston Villa manager, sources told ESPN.
Gerrard made an instant impact at Villa Park by guiding the team to a 2-0 win against Brighton in his first game in charge last Saturday after leaving Scottish champions Rangers to launch his Premier League management career with Villa.
The former Liverpool and England captain has made his mark on his new club by taking ketchup, fizzy drinks and hot chocolate off the menu in the players’ canteen at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground.
Sources told ESPN he is keen for Villa to adopt the Zone7 AI injury prevention that proved a key factor in last season’s title win with Rangers. In simple terms, clubs send their training and match data to Zone7, who analyse it using an algorithm and send back daily emails with information about players who may be straying close to the so-called “danger zone” in terms of susceptibility to injuries.
ESPN reported in February that clubs in Europe and Major League Soccer had adopted the system and after signing up to the algorithm-based technology on the recommendation of Ibrox head of performance Jordan Milsom at the start of the 2020-21 season, Rangers reported a 52% reduction injuries last season in comparison to the previous campaign. Rangers also reported a 36% reduction in injuries per match on the previous season and a 21% drop in days lost to injury.
– Artificial Intelligence: How clubs are looking to predict injuries
More than 50 clubs across the world now use Zone7’s AI programme. Many wish to remain anonymous, in an effort to protect any competitive advantage that the tool may provide — football clubs are notoriously protective of such proprietary data — while others simply do not wish to discuss any pros or cons they have discovered while using it. Despite repeated attempts by ESPN to speak to Real Salt Lake and Toronto, neither MLS team responded to enquiries.
Sources said that Gerrard is attempting to have the system in place at Villa as soon as possible in an effort to make his team fitter. — Mark Ogden
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Following Barcelona’s scoreless draw against Benfica, ESPN FC’s Ale Moreno explains why fans shouldn’t expect drastic improvement just yet.
Barcelona’s Araujo fear as Premier League clubs watch on
Barcelona fear interest from the Premier League’s top clubs in Ronald Araujo as well as the centre-back’s salary demands could complicate their contract renewal negotiations with him, sources told ESPN.
Liverpool and Manchester United have been monitoring Araujo’s development closely and Barcelona want to secure his future as a priority, with the plan to offer him a five-year deal, with his existing contract up in 2023.
However, sources said that during preliminary discussions with the player, there is a concern at Barcelona that they may not be able to meet the terms that he is requesting. Barcelona’s financial crisis has deepened after LaLiga cut another €300 million from their spending limit this season and they recently confirmed losses for the 2020-21 season of €481m, while debt is around £1.3 billion.
Liverpool and Manchester United possess the financial might to beat what Barcelona can afford if they decide to push forward on their interest. Sources added that Liverpool are particularly keen on Araujo and scouts have watched him throughout 2021.
Barca starlets Pedri and Ansu Fati recently renewed their contracts, which included £1bn release clauses, and they want to secure midfielder Gavi as well as Araujo: two players considered key under new coach Xavi Hernandez.
The club want to avoid a similar situation they experienced with Ilaix Moriba in the summer. The Spanish midfielder had one year left on his contract and refused to sign a new deal, leading to his transfer to RB Leipzig for €16m plus add-ons.
Araujo, 22, arrived at the Camp Nou in 2018 from Uruguayan side River Boston in a transfer worth €1.5m plus €3m in add-ons. — Adriana Garcia and Moises Llorens
Juventus hope Klopp builds on Ramsey interest
Juventus are hoping Jurgen Klopp’s admiration for Aaron Ramsey will lead to a bid from Liverpool for the midfielder in January, sources told ESPN.
The 30-year-old is under contract until 2023 but Ramsey could be made available for transfer after struggling to break into the first-team since his arrival.
Sources told ESPN that Klopp has long held Ramsey in high regard and considered formalising that interest when the Wales interational left Arsenal for Juventus in 2019. Liverpool have been short of numbers in midfield after injuries compounded the departure of Georginio Wijnaldum to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Several Premier League clubs have been linked with Ramsey including West Ham, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Leicester City and Juventus hope Liverpool will add themselves to that list in the coming weeks, as the Serie A club look for competing clubs to drive the fee up to secure the player.
Ramsey has always been determined to make a success of his time in Serie A but he has made five appearances totalling 112 minutes since Massimiliano Allegri took charge in the summer. — James Olley
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Craig Burley and Kay Murray discuss the futures of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner after both were linked with Barcelona.
Chelsea calm over Mount rumours
Chelsea are yet to open fresh contract talks with Mason Mount but all parties are relaxed about the situation contrary to reports in Spain that Real Madrid were interested in him, sources told ESPN.
It had been suggested that the midfielder was unhappy at Stamford Bridge, specifically over his role within the squad, but sources claim Mount enjoys a healthy relationship with head coach Thomas Tuchel and is focused on further success with the Blues.
Negotiations are yet to begin over a new deal but the 22-year-old has two-and-a-half years left to run on his existing agreement and the club believe there is no rush for the time being.
It is anticipated that conversations will begin later in the season as Chelsea first prioritise talks with several players whose deals expire next summer, chiefly Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva. — James Olley
After facing widespread criticism, Facebook has unveiled a transparency report that it initially shelved about the most popular posts on its public News Feed in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2021. The report offers a glimpse into how far misinformation about the covid-19 vaccine has spread online.
As first reported by the New York Times, which published a bombshell expose on Friday after obtaining a copy of the then-unreleased report, the most-viewed link on Facebook between January and March was a since-updated news article suggesting that the vaccine may be at fault for a Florida doctor’s death. The link racked up nearly 54 million views during this period.
According to Facebook’s report, among the top 20 most visited pages on the platform during the first quarter was the Epoch Times, a site that routinely pushes misinformation about the covid-19 pandemic and far-right conspiracies such as QAnon.
On Saturday, Facebook policy communications director Andy Stone tweeted that the criticism Facebook has faced for initially holding the report “wasn’t unfair,” but added that defining misinformation is a complex process:
“News outlets wrote about the south Florida doctor that died. When the coroner released a cause of death, the Chicago Tribune appended an update to its original story; NYTimes did not. Would it have been right to remove the Times story because it was COVID [misinformation]? Of course not. No one is actually suggesting this and neither am I. But it does illustrate just how difficult it is to define misinformation.”
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Stone said that Facebook didn’t release the report earlier because there were “key fixes to the system” that the company wanted to make. He didn’t go into further detail about what those changes were exactly but posted a link to the report on Twitter. In a statement to the Washington Post, he said one change involved fixing a technical bug but declined to elaborate further.
On Twitter, Stone pointed to “slight differences” between this shelved report and the second-quarter report Facebook did publicly release earlier this week, adding that Facebook hopes to see even more progress in the third quarter. Facebook released its Q2 report on Aug. 18 showing the most popular posts in the U.S. from April to June, which paints the company in a more flattering light. The Epoch Times still makes an appearance, its subscription page ranking among the top 10 most viewed links, but most of the top-performing posts involved memes, recipes, heartwarming stories about animals, and, for some reason, storefronts for CBD products and Christianity-themed apparel.
However, whatever “key fixes” Facebook made between the two reports isn’t immediately clear. Comparing them side by side, their formats are nearly identical. Facebook uses different word choices to explain its findings, but its presentation of the data itself remains unchanged. Facebook did not immediately return Gizmodo’s request for comment.
It appears the only reason this first report ever even saw the light of day was because of the backlash to Facebook patting itself on the back for its transparency with the second report while burying a data set that made it look bad. To wit, Facebook vice president Guy Rosen touted the social network as “the far most transparent platform on the internet” in a statement to the Post earlier this week.
“We’re guilty of cleaning up our house a bit before we invited company,” Stone wrote on Twitter. “We’ve been criticized for that; and again, that’s not unfair… given the interest in the first version of the report we did not release, we’ve decided to just make it public. It’s not gleaming, but we’re trying to make progress.”