Billionaire Gautam Adani and his family prepaid $902 million worth of borrowings backed by shares as the ports-to-power conglomerate seeks to pare all share-backed loans by March end to allay investor fears.
(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Gautam Adani and his family prepaid $902 million worth of borrowings backed by shares as the ports-to-power conglomerate seeks to pare all share-backed loans by March end to allay investor fears.
The founders’ early payment, that comes on top of last month’s $1.1 billion prepayment, will help release 36 million shares in Adani Transmission Ltd., the group said in a statement Tuesday. As many as 155 million shares of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. will be released along with 11 million shares of Adani Green Energy Ltd. and 31 million shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd., according to the statement.
Adani is seeking to restore confidence in his sprawling conglomerate’s financial health through debt prepayments and a worldwide roadshow after a scathing short seller attack in late-January wiped out as much as $150 billion from the group’s stock market value and sent bond prices plunging. The latest date of maturity for the $902 million prepaid was April, 2025, according to the statement.
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Shares of the Indian conglomerate rebounded last week after US investment firm GQG Partners invested 154.5 billion rupees ($1.89 billion) by purchasing shares from a family trust, or founders. Still, prices for Adani companies’ shares and bonds remain well below Jan. 24 levels, when the short-seller report was released.Â
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(Updates with details of prepaid debt in third paragraph.)
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