Adani shares tumble on report group seeking time to pay ACC, Ambuja debt

New Delhi Television

28/03/2023 09:20

BENGALURU, March 28 (Reuters) - Shares of Adani Group
companies tumbled on Tuesday after a report said the
conglomerate was seeking to renegotiate terms of outstanding
loans worth $4 billion taken last year to buy cement firms ACC
 ACC.NS  and Ambuja Cements  ABUJ.NS .
     The group's flagship firm, Adani Enterprises  ADEL.NS ,
slid nearly 8% to a near four-week low, while Adani Ports
 APSE.NS  tumbled 9.2%. 
    ACC  ACC.NS  dropped 4.8% to its lowest since Feb. 2021 and 
Ambuja Cement  ABUJ.NS  slipped 4.2%.
    The group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, has begun
negotiations with lenders to extend the tenure of its $3 billion
bridge loan to a period of five years or beyond from the
existing 18 months, the Economic Times said on Tuesday, citing
sources.
    The group is also reportedly seeking conversion of another
$1 billion mezzanine loan tranche, which currently has a
maturity of 24 months, to senior secured debt with a repayment
schedule extending up to five years.
    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, the newspaper cited a banker as
saying.
    The Adani Group and lenders Standard Chartered, Barclays and
Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests
for comment.
    The conglomerate bought the two cement companies from Holcim
AG  HOLN.S  for $10.5 billion in May last year.
    "If they want more time to repay the debt that means they do
not have high cash flows. Whatever expansion plans announced by
Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises, and even Adani Total, for the
next two years will undergo delays," said Avinash Gorakshakar,
head - research of Profitmart Securities.
    The report comes in the wake of short-seller Hindenburg's
allegations raised in January against the conglomerate that
wiped off over $120 billion in market value of seven listed
Adani Group companies.
    Since the Hindenburg report, Adani Group stocks have lost
between 22% and 80%.

 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sohini Goswami)
 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))