US charges on Adani Group chief & others are credit negative: Moody's

Following the US indictment of Adani Group’s chairman and other senior officials on bribery charges, rating agency Moody’s on Thursday said such charges are credit negative for the group’s companies.

 

“Our main focus when assessing Adani Group is on the ability of the group’s companies to access capital to meet their liquidity requirements and on its governance practices,” Moody’s said in a statement.

 

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has been charged in the United States in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme amounting to $265 million. US prosecutors alleged that Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and six other defendants paid bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy supply contracts yielding $2 billion in profits over 20 years.

 

Meanwhile, BSE listed Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) informed stock exchange that in light of these developments, its subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD denominated bond offerings.

 

AGEL subsidiaries -- Adani Hybrid Energy Jaisalmer One Ltd, Adani Hybrid Energy Jaisalmer Two Ltd and Adani Solar Energy Jaisalmer One Pvt Ltd -- had proposed to raise funds through green Bond Issuance.

 

Adani and others have been indicted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in New York for allegedly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). A complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

 

“During the alleged scheme, Adani Green raised more than $175 million from US investors, and Azure Power’s stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange,” SEC said in a statement.