Corporate Travel Management has failed to convince shareholders there are "no issues of substance" arising from hedge fund VGI Partners' activist short selling attack, with its shares plunging 27 per cent on Wednesday after the release of its rebuttal.

Corporate Travel firmly denied VGI's claims that its accounting raises "red flags" and it runs a network of "phantom" offices, saying the hedge fund "misunderstands or misrepresents" aspects of the listed travel business. The stock fell $7.59 to $20.05 in the first session it has traded since VGI struck.