Viceroy Research: the short-seller targetting VedantaGroup

A U.S. short-seller, #Viceroy Research, has flung allegations at Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Group, calling #Vedanta Resources (VRL) a ‘parasite’ and a ‘monetary zombie’ and its listed subsidiary Vedanta Ltd (VEDL) a ‘dying host’.

#Viceroy Research, which has a brief place on VRL’s debt stack, stated the Vedanta group construction was “financially unsustainable, operationally compromised” and was a “extreme, under-appreciated threat to collectors”.

The 87-page #Viceroy Research report accused VRL of draining VEDL, forcing it to tackle extra debt and deplete its money reserves, impaired collectors’ means to recuperate their principal, a scenario that resembled a ‘#Ponzi scheme’, it stated. VEDL promoted capital-intensive tasks that it couldn’t afford to boost recent capital, which was paid out to VRL, it alleged.

Vedanta Group dismissed #Viceroy Research report as “a malicious mixture of selective misinformation and baseless allegations to discredit the group”.

Who is Vicereoy Research?

According to its web site, #Viceroy Research LLC is an investigative monetary analysis agency that’s registered in #Delaware, USA. The agency was based in 2016 by Fraser John Perring and his Australian colleagues Aiden Lau and Gabriel Bernarde.

The firm first gained world scrutiny in 2017 with its analysis on South Africa’s #Steinhoff International. As a results of the investigation, intensive accounting errors had been found and the corporate’s shares fell greater than 90%, wiping out billions of {dollars} in shareholder worth.

The agency additionally made a reputation for itself when it positioned a guess towards firms comparable to Elon Musk’s Tesla. The short-seller has printed studies on 29 companies, in keeping with their web site.

In 2018, it printed a report on Advanced Micro Devices Inc and increasing on the monetary impression of the CTS Labs vulnerabilities.

In 2022, it focused Truecaller for deliberately misdirecting legitimate criticism.

In 2023, it filed a report on Tokyo-based Abalance for evading U.S. duties.

The newest report on Vedanta Group is predicted to have an effect on the Indian Stock Exchange. 

Shares of mining large Vedanta dropped 3.38% to finish at ₹440.80 on the BSE after the report.

Viceroy’s previous controversies

Medical Properties Trust, an Alabama-based actual property funding belief, filed a defamation go well with towards Viceroy in 2023, which was settled confidentially the subsequent 12 months. 

The South African FSCA had penalized the short-seller for making inaccurate and deceptive claims on “Capitec.”