Adani Group aims to tackle debt deadlines with cash, private notes

Executives of the embattled Adani group told investors in a call on Thursday that they would address deadlines to repay debt with options including private placement notes and cash from operations.

The management will come up with a plan to refinance Adani Green Energy’s bonds due in 2024 by the end of June, according to people familiar with the matter. The bonds rallied the most ever after the comments.

The debt will likely be refinanced with long-term private placement notes, with a potential maturity of 15 years, said the people, who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity.

Bloomberg News reported earlier Thursday that Adani was considering privately placed bond offerings for some of its companies including Adani Green Energy.

The management said it was seeking to cut the group’s net debt to below three times Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) next year, from the current 3.2 times, the people said.

The group had previously said its companies faced no material refinancing risk and no near-term liquidity requirement.

Executives also said that $390 million of debt coming due over the next 12 months at the Adani Transmission Step-One Ltd level will be repaid using cash from operations, the people said.

Investors are zeroing in on the Adani group’s finances after Hindenburg Research accused it of fraud and market manipulation — charges it denies.

The conglomerate, whose business interests range from ports to renewable energy, tapped international markets to raise more than $8 billion worth of US currency bonds in recent years. It also took out at least that much in foreign-currency loans, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

However, a spike in yields following the Hindenburg report has stoked concerns among some investors and analysts that at least for now debt financing costs would be prohibitively expensive for new bond deals.

The Adani Green Energy notes are currently quoted at around 86 cents on the dollar, having jumped by about eight points following the refinancing news from the call, according to CBBT pricing compiled by Bloomberg.