Vedanta Group
| Photo Credit: Reuters
A U.S. short-seller, Viceroy Research, has flung allegations at Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Group, calling Vedanta Resources (VRL) a ‘parasite’ and a ‘financial zombie’ and its listed subsidiary Vedanta Ltd (VEDL) a ‘dying host’.
Viceroy Research, which has a short position on VRL’s debt stack, said the Vedanta group structure was “financially unsustainable, operationally compromised” and was a “severe, under-appreciated risk to creditors”.
The 87-page Viceroy Research report accused VRL of draining VEDL, forcing it to take on more debt and deplete its cash reserves, impaired creditors’ ability to recover their principal, a situation that resembled a ‘Ponzi scheme’, it said. VEDL promoted capital-intensive projects that it could not afford to raise fresh capital, which was paid out to VRL, it alleged.
Vedanta Group dismissed Viceroy Research report as “a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations to discredit the group”.
Who is Vicereoy Research?
According to its website, Viceroy Research LLC is an investigative financial research firm that is registered in Delaware, USA. The firm was founded in 2016 by Fraser John Perring and his Australian colleagues Aiden Lau and Gabriel Bernarde.
The company first gained global scrutiny in 2017 with its research on South Africa’s Steinhoff International. As a result of the investigation, extensive accounting errors were discovered and the company’s shares fell more than 90%, wiping out billions of dollars in shareholder value.
The firm also made a name for itself when it placed a bet against companies such as Elon Musk’s Tesla. The short-seller has published reports on 29 businesses, according to their website.
In 2018, it published a report on Advanced Micro Devices Inc and expanding on the financial impact of the CTS Labs vulnerabilities.
In 2022, it targeted Truecaller for intentionally misdirecting valid criticism.
In 2023, it filed a report on Tokyo-based Abalance for evading U.S. duties.
The latest report on Vedanta Group is expected to have an impact on the Indian Stock Exchange.
Shares of mining giant Vedanta dropped 3.38% to end at ₹440.80 on the BSE after the report.
Viceroy’s past controversies
Medical Properties Trust, an Alabama-based real estate investment trust, filed a defamation suit against Viceroy in 2023, which was settled confidentially the next year.
The South African FSCA had penalized the short-seller for making inaccurate and misleading claims on “Capitec.”
Published – July 10, 2025 03:34 pm IST
