Adani Group in talks with MUFG to raise $250 million via offshore loans

By Saikat Das and Divya Patil

 

Investors are growing more confident lending to Indian conglomerate Adani Group as the company seeks to raise funds for units across the spectrum of its businesses. 

Two units of Adani Group are in advance talks to raise about $250 million from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group through separate bilateral offshore loans, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The units, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. and Adani Airport Holdings Ltd., will raise about $100 million and $150 million respectively, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The Adani port deal will be signed as early as this week, and the businesses are also in talks with other Japanese lenders for additional debt, they said. 

 

 

The deal would mark MUFG’s first bilateral loan with the company since the US Department of Justice indicted Gautam Adani over an alleged bribery plot in November. In May, the ports unit raised $150 million in a similar bilateral deal with DBS Group Holdings Ltd.

 

Representatives for Adani Group and MUFG didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the loans.

 

Separately, the company’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises Ltd. is closing a public bond offering ahead of schedule after the issuance was oversubscribed, according to people familiar with the matter. 

 

The 10-billion-rupee ($117 million) bond sale, the company’s first since the indictment, received subscriptions worth 15.1 billion rupees as of 5:00 pm India time, according to lead manager Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd.’s website.

 

Representatives for Adani Group declined to comment on a separate query regarding the public bond sale. 

 

The loans will be priced at a spread over the benchmark secured overnight financing rate, or SOFR, said the people. The spread of the loan for the port unit could range between 210 and 220 basis points over SOFR, said one of the people. Proceeds will fund a range of uses including bond buybacks, said the people.