 "Dhaval Buch")
Dhaval Buch is the husband of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. (Photo: Alvarez & Marsal website)
Dhaval Buch, husband of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, has come under scrutiny after the latest Hindenburg Research report claimed the couple had stakes in obscure offshore entities used in the alleged “Adani money siphoning scandal”.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Buch is a senior advisor at private equity major Blackstone and consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal, and a non-executive director at sports apparel brand Gildan. He has over three decades of experience in supply chain management, primarily at Unilever, where he served as Chief Procurement Officer.
He had brief stints at the Mahindra & Mahindra group after leaving Unilever.
In 2013, he set up the financial services consulting firm Agora Advisory registered in Singapore with his wife Madhabi, who had just concluded her more than a decade-long stint at the ICICI Group, where she signed off as the Chief Executive Officer at investment banking and broking outfit ICICI Securities.
According to Hindenburg Research, Agora Partners was registered on March 27, 2013, in Singapore with Madhabi initially holding the entire 100 per cent shareholding. In March 2022, she transferred all the holdings to her husband Buch, according to a public disclosure by the US-based short-seller.
Hindenburg Research notes that Singapore-registered financial services consulting firm Agora Partners is exempt from disclosing financial statements, making it unclear how much revenue it generates and from whom.
The report alleges Dhaval’s appointment as senior advisor at Blackstone in 2019 was unusual, given his lack of experience in capital markets or real estate. It claims that Blackstone benefited indirectly from Sebi’s regulatory changes in the Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) market, including those made during Dhaval’s tenure as advisor.
“During Dhaval’s time as an advisor to Blackstone, Sebi has proposed, approved, and facilitated major Reit regulations changes. These include seven consultation papers, three consolidated updates, two new regulatory frameworks, and nomination rights for units, specifically benefiting private equity firms like Blackstone,” it alleges.
Blackstone was a sponsor in Embassy REIT, India’s first listed Reit. In December 2023, Blackstone sold its entire stake in Embassy REIT for around Rs 7,000 crore. Blackstone also has stakes in Mindspace REIT, which came out with an IPO in August 2020, and in retail REIT Nexus Select Trust, which was listed in May last year.
Hindenburg has highlighted how the Sebi chief urged investors to look at the Reit asset class “positively” but “omitted to mention that Blackstone, who her husband advises, stands to gain significantly from the asset class.”
“In the context of allegations made in the Hindenburg Report dated August 10, 2024, against us, we would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report. The same are devoid of any truth,” Madhabi and Dhaval said in a joint statement.
First Published: Aug 11 2024 | 11:54 AM IST
