According to the sources cited, the group has begun negotiations with lenders to extend the tenor of its $3 billion bridge from the existing 18 months to a period of five years or beyond. Simultaneously, the group is also seeking to convert another $1 billion mezzanine loan tranche, which has a maturity of 24 months currently, to senior secured debt with a repayment schedule extending up to five years.
In a response to an ET query, a spokesperson of the Adani Group denied the development saying “The query you shared in the email is incorrect.”
Spokespersons of Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank and Barclays Bank – the lead banks in the transaction – declined requests for comment.
In addition to the above three, there are several other foreign lenders which are part of the consortium.
To be sure the group has already repaid $1.5 billion of Ambuja and ACC loans, which includes $1 billion of promoter loans taken from three foreign banks as a loan against shares. Additionally, the group also repaid $500 million in March, which was part of the $3.5 billion bridge taken initially.
ET reported on February 4 that the Adani Group is likely to shelve its plans to raise close to $500 million through international bonds and will explore other financing options, including paying the outstanding from internal accruals. The group later sold stakes worth ₹15,446 crore in various group firms to US equity boutique firm GQG Partners, and according to sources in the know, used the proceeds to repay part of ACC-Ambuja debt.”While the maturity of the next repayment is in February 2024, the group wants to conclude the negotiations ahead of time,” said a senior banker. The lenders have in principle agreed to the proposal for extending the tenure of the loan to five years, but going forward the talks will be focused on the pricing of the loan.
“The original plan was to refinance a large portion of the loans via long-term bonds but that looks difficult given the current market conditions,” said a second person, also a senior banker. As a result, the lenders are in favour of extending the term of the loans but may also want the group to prepay a part of the outstanding,” the second person added.
