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Viceroy Research LLC is an international investigative financial research group registered in Delaware, United States. It was founded by a British short seller Fraser John Perring together with Australian partners Aiden Lau and Gabriel Bernarde in 2016. Perring and Viceroy have stirred considerable media interest because of their reports on firms like Wirecard. Of late, Viceroy has been known to bet against companies like Tesla, or Grenke.[1][2][3][4][5]
In 2021, the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has fined Viceroy R50 million for damaging remarks that the short-selling firm made about South Africa's Capitec Bank.[6]
In October 2021, it issued a damning report against Adler Real Estate for inflated valuations and undisclosed related party deals.[7] KPMG probed the allegations and cleared the company of systemic fraud, but was unable to refute all the claims. In May 2022, KPMG quit its contract. Adler eventually was unable to repay its debt. In April 2023, it won approval in court, against the opposition of some bondholders, to suspend coupon payments and extend maturities of bonds due in 2024.[8][9]
List of short attack reports
editThe following table displays the companies Viceroy Research has published reports about.[10][11]
| Target | Ticker | First report | Last report | Number of reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hexagon | Nasdaq Stockholm: HEXA B | 2023-7-19 | 2023-7-29 | 3 |
| Abalance | TYO: 38560 | 2023-5-16 | 2023-5-16 | 3 |
| Medical Properties Trust | NYSE: MPW | 2023-1-26 | 2023-3-17 | 15 |
| Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden | Nasdaq Stockholm: SBB B | 2022-2-21 | 2022-12-9 | 9 |
| Home REIT | LSE: HOME | 2022-11-23 | 2022-11-30 | 2 |
| Truecaller | Nasdaq Stockholm: TRUE B | 2022-9-28 | 2022-10-5 | 3 |
| Adler Group | FWB: ADJ | 2021-10-6 | 2022-5-3 | 5 |
| SANT | XTRA:SANT | 2021-12-16 | 2022-1-25 | 2 |
| Pagseguro | NYSE: PAGS | 2021-10-27 | 2021-10-27 | 1 |
| Reconnaissance Energy Africa | TSX-V: RECO | 2021-6-24 | 2021-9-7 | 8 |
| Tyro | ASX:TYR | 2021-1-14 | 2021-1-19 | 3 |
| Wirecard (note: as Zatarra) | n/a: | 2020-7-3 | 2020-11-6 | 2 |
| Grenke AG | VIE:GLJ | 2020-9-15 | 2020-10-22 | 9 |
| Sorrento Therapeutics | Nasdaq: SRNEQ | 2020-5-20 | 2020-5-20 | 1 |
| Athenex | Nasdaq: ATNXQ | 2019-10-22 | 2019-11-20 | 10 |
| Pareteum | Nasdaq: TEUM | 2018-9-6 | 2019-7-17 | 9 |
| Ebix | Nasdaq: EBIX | 2018-12-3 | 2019-7-1 | 7 |
| MiMedx | Nasdaq: MDXG | 2017-9-20 | 2019-6-17 | 28 |
| NEPI Rockcastle | JSE: NRP | 2018-11-28 | 2018-12-6 | 3 |
| Capitec | JSE: CPI | 2018-1-30 | 2018-7-12 | 7 |
| AMD | Nasdaq: AMD | 2018-3-13 | 2018-3-22 | 2 |
| ProSieben | FWB: PSM | 2018-3-6 | 2018-3-6 | 1 |
| Steinhoff ETR | JSE: SNH | 2017-12-6 | 2017-12-6 | 1 |
| Neuroderm | Nasdaq: NDRM | 2017-8-30 | 2017-9-6 | 4 |
| Caesarstone | Nasdaq: CSTE | 2017-6-14 | 2017-8-1 | 2 |
| Quintis | ASXL:QIN | 2017-5-14 | 2017-5-14 | 1 |
| Syrah Resources | ASX:SYR | 2016-12-23 | 2016-12-23 | 1 |
Controversies
editAllegations
edit- On 16 March 2023, a question was raised in the UK's House of Commons by Liam Byrne MP about Viceroy Research involvement in a short-selling attack on Babcock International (involved with build and maintenance of UK's nuclear submarines) and Fraser John Perring's links and frequent trips to Moscow:
"Can we have a debate in Government time on the activities of short-selling attack group Viceroy Research and its leader Fraser Perring? I am told that it is working hand in glove with Boatman Capital, which launched the short-selling attack on Babcock International while it was overhauling our nuclear submarines. Mr Perring is a not infrequent visitor to Moscow, and is now targeting Home REIT, which provides homelessness services, including to homeless veterans. We must ensure that short-selling groups are not another weapon in Putin's arsenal. Where there are links between short-selling attack groups and the Kremlin, we need to know." [12]
- In 2022, allegations were made against Viceroy Research as part of continued investigations into Viceroy's short attack against Capitec (for which Viceroy had already been fined for misleading reports) that Viceroy was paid R10M for production of its reports into Capitec.[13]
Legal cases
edit- Medical Properties Trust, Inc. v. Viceroy Research LLC (2023): MPT filed a lawsuit against Viceroy Research in federal court, alleging that Viceroy had defamed the company by publishing false and misleading statements about its business practices.[14] In June 2023, Medical Properties Trust won a preliminary ruling in its defamation lawsuit over an alleged “short and distort” scheme by Viceroy Research.[15]
Regulatory investigations and fines
edit- In 2022, the FCA in the United Kingdom opened questions into Viceroy Research's relationship with Cayman Island hedge fund Oasis Management with regards to collusion and insider trading.[16]
- In 2021, the South African FSCA fined Viceroy Research R50M for false and misleading statements about the company Capitec in Viceroy's 2018 reports which caused a 23% share price drop.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Research". Viceroy Research. 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
- ^ "Short Seller Who Bet Against Wirecard Wagers Tesla Is Overpriced". Bloomberg. 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
Fraser Perring says EV maker is overvalued by factor of 10; Size of short bet against Tesla is about 5% of his portfolio
- ^ "Research Report 2018 - INVESTMENT RESEARCH IN THE ERA OF FAKE NEWS - A study of activist short selling and Viceroy Research" (PDF). intellidex.co.za. 2018.
- ^ "Fraser Perring: Die belgische Holding Sofina ist sein nächstes Ziel". capital.de (in German). 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
- ^ Raghavan, Anita (15 August 2021). "The Short Seller Who Took On Wirecard Is Aiming for a Bigger Target". Barron's. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ Buthelezi, Londiwe (2021-09-08). "Regulator fines Viceroy R50m for falsely accusing Capitec of being a 'loan shark'". Fin24. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
- ^ "Adler Group – Bond Villains". 2021-10-06.
- ^ "Adler Says It Can Restructure Debt Despite Investor Resistance". 2022-12-09.
- ^ "Adler Wins Restructuring Approval Despite Creditor Opposition". 2023-04-12.
- ^ "Viceroy Research | A group of individuals that see the world differently". Viceroy Research. 2023-05-18. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ^ "Short seller fact checker - Viceroy Research". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ^ "Hansard - Oral Answers to Questions".
- ^ Adriaan Kruger (2022-11-18). "Viceroy was paid R10m for its hatchet job on Capitec". Moneyweb. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
- ^ "Medical Properties Trust Files Lawsuit Against Short-Seller Viceroy Research and Its Members, Sends Letter to Shareholders". www.businesswire.com. 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
- ^ "Medical Properties Defamation Case Against Short Seller Advances". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
- ^ Lumsden, Gavin (Nov 30, 2022). "Questions for Viceroy on its link to hedge fund Oasis". citywire.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ Ciaran Ryan (2021-09-08). "FSCA hits Viceroy with R50m penalty for false, misleading statements on Capitec". Moneyweb. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
External links
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