Viceroy Research: No stranger to controversy

Research firm has been both lionised and vilified for its reports

- FE BUREAU

VICEROY RESEARCH, WHICH on Wednesday came out with a scathing report on Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta Resources, is not new to controversy. The research group, which is registered in Delaware, the US, and has taken on Vedanta Resources, alleging it of running a structurally-parasitic corporate model, has built its reputation over the past decade for targeting high-profile corporations with detailed forensic investigations and triggering seismic consequences in capital markets.

Founded by Fraser Perring, a former social worker-turned-financial analyst, the firm first rose to international prominence in 2017 with its report on South Africa's Steinhoff International. That investigation uncovered widespread accounting irregularities and contributed to the company's stock collapsing by more than 90%, wiping out billions in shareholder value. It was a spectacular debut that announced Viceroy as a new force in the activist short seller arena.