(Reuters) -Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani faced a margin call of more than $500 million on a $1.1 billion share-backed loan, prompting him to repay the whole debt, the Financial Times reported, citing four people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The repayment was meant to avoid any further damage to investor confidence, which has been rocked by allegations of fraud by short-selling firm Hindenburg, according to the report on Wednesday.
An Adani spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside business hours.
Adani Group also plans to prepay a $500 million loan due next month to a group of banks that includes Barclays, Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank, Bloomberg News reported.
The group of banks lent Adani $4.5 billion to finance the purchase of Holcim Ltd cement assets last year and a portion of the loan is due March 9, Bloomberg News said.
The conglomerate had been in talks with banks to refinance that part of the loan but has decided to prepay it, Bloomberg News reported, adding that Adani Group’s discussions with the banks have not stalled.
Adani’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises called off its $2.5 billion share sale last week as a rout sparked by short-seller Hindenburg’s criticisms wiped billions off the value of the Indian tycoon’s stocks.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Shounak Dasgupta)
