Vinod Adani: The man behind the Adani group’s offshore deals

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Editor's note: In one of India’s largest ever merger and acquisition transactions—the Adani group’s deal to buy out Swiss multinational Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cements and ACC—one name stands out: Vinod Shantilal Adani.  The elder brother of Gautam Adani, Asia’s second richest man, Vinod has been something of an enigma in the Adani group’s history. He is a citizen of Cyprus, a resident of Dubai and Singapore, and a director of dozens of companies and trusts spread across at least six countries, including tax havens Mauritius and the Cayman Islands.  He moved to Dubai in 1994, roughly a year after the group’s flagship, Adani Enterprises, was incorporated (Adani Exports at the time), and has never been known to hold any office in Adani companies since. This relationship is something the Adani group has attested to. In 2017, the group submitted before a government authority that Vinod Adani was “not at all having any involvement with any Adani group of companies”. This was in the context of a money laundering investigation, which we will get to shortly.   The Adani group’s statement came as …