Adani Ports raises $750 mn overseas via long-term bonds in two tranches

Coupon rates for the 20-year bonds and 10.5-year tranche were fixed at 5% and 3.8% respectively

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Tuesday said it has raised $750 million overseas via unsecured bonds.

In an exchange filing, the Gautam Adani-led company informed that the coupon rates for the 20-year bonds and 10.5-year tranche were fixed at 5 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively.

“The issuance was closed on July 26, 2021 and was oversubscribed over three times. APSEZ has continued to receive exceedingly strong participation (for its successive bond offerings) from its high-quality real money investors across all geographies,” said the company in its filing.

Issuance of the bonds increases APSEZ’s debt maturity to over seven years from six years. Also, the company’s natural hedge through its foreign currency earnings allows the company to manage its foreign currency exposure.

This issuance has also reconfigured the ratio of APSEZ’s debt from overseas investors from 69 percent to 73 percent, said the filing.

“The issuance is a part of our capital management program to lock lower interest rates over an extended tenor and extend debt maturity. The reduced cost of capital will translate into greater capital efficiency as well as enhanced shareholder returns,” Karan Adani, chief executive officer and whole-time director at APSEZ was quoted as saying.

Axis Bank, Barclays, Citigroup, DBS Bank, Emirates NBD, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Mizuho Securities, MUFG Securities, SMBC Nikko, and Standard Chartered Bank helped company raise the funds via these bonds.

Within the Adani portfolio, APSEZ is the third issuer of long tenor bonds after Adani Green Energy Ltd and Adani Transmission Ltd.

Shares of APSEZ were trading at Rs 663 per share on the BSE, down 3 percent from previous close.