Adani raises Rs 1,250 cr through first bond sale since Hindenburg report

Billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship firm has raised Rs 1,250 crore through a local-currency bond sale, the first since US short seller’s scathing report that sparked a rout in the group’s securities.

In a stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises Ltd said it has raised Rs 1,250 crore “by allotment of 1,25,000 secured, unrated, unlisted, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of the face value of Rs 1 lakh each on private placement basis”.

While the firm did not disclose the interest rate, data from the National Securities Depository Ltd showed the three-year bond carried an annual coupon of 10 per cent.

This is the first Adani group tapped the local corporate bond market since Hindenburg Research came out with its report in January.

Adani Enterprises had last raised funds via a primary placement of bonds in September last year at an 8.40 per cent yield for 17 months.

That fundraising was 140 basis points above the prevailing government bond yields at the time. The current bond issue is at a spread of nearly 300 basis points over the comparable government bond yield. But unlike government bonds where interest is paid on a semi-annual basis, Adani bonds carry annual interest.

US short-seller Hindenburg Research in January released a damning report alleging accounting fraud and stock price manipulation at Adani Group, triggering a stock market rout that had erased about USD 145 billion in the conglomerate’s market value at its lowest point.

Adani Group has denied all allegations by Hindenburg and is plotting a comeback strategy that includes recasting its ambitions, scrapping acquisitions, pre-paying debt to address concerns about its cash flows and borrowings, and scaling back its pace of spending on new projects.

Promoters in two tranches have sold shares worth Rs 11,330 crore since May to leading US-based global equity investment boutique GQG Partners.

Adani Enterprises raised the new debt by pledging 21.4 per cent of the shares of Adani Road Transport, NSDL data showed. It had pledged 1.95 per cent of Adani Road Transport shares during the September 2022 bond issue.