BENGALURU (Reuters) -Barclays, Deutsche Bank AG and Standard Chartered are in talks to collectively lend between $600 million and $750 million to India’s Adani Group, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The loan is a part of discussions to refinance the debt that the group had taken to fund its purchase of Ambuja Cements.
Adani last year acquired ACC and Ambuja from Switzerland-based Holcim AG’s in a $10.5 billion deal that was financed by bridge loans. The deal made the group India’s No. 2 cement manufacturer.
Adani Group is also in discussion with other lenders to refinance as much as $3.8 billion of a loan facility taken for its Ambuja acquisition, the report added.
However, the report said that the talks haven’t yet concluded and the amounts can still change.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Adani Group is aiming to close its planned up to $4 billion fundraising before the end of 2023, and is actively talking to global investors about participating.
The Adani Group and Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, while Standard Chartered and Barclays declined to comment.
Adani’s high debt levels were among the concerns that were flagged by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg in a report on Jan. 24.
The short-seller also said the conglomerate improperly used tax havens, among other allegations that wiped out over $100 billion in investor wealth in the group’s listed entities.
The group called the report baseless, and has since garnered investor support and repaid debt.
(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Varun H K)
