Adani Group, controlled by Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani, is planning to raise $2.5 billion from global lenders to refinance debt used to buy two cement firms, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be India’s largest offshore loan this year.
Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd., a Mauritius-based special purpose vehicle owned by the Adani family, aims to raise $1.5 billion through a bridge loan with a tenor ranging from 18 months to 24 months, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.
The offshore facility may be priced at about 150 bps over the US benchmark Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, the people said. The bridge facility will later be refinanced with a rupee-denominated loan from domestic lenders including State Bank of India and HDFC Bank, the people said.
Separately, Adani Infra (India) Ltd., another family-owned entity of the group, seeks to raise about $1 billion through a five-year loan, tapping on the Reserve Bank of India’s external commercial borrowing window, the people said. The facility may be priced at about 275 basis points over SOFR, they said.
The Indian central bank’s concessional foreign-exchange swap facility, meant to boost a weak rupee, lowers hedging costs on overseas borrowings. If completed, the entire debt deal would be India’s biggest offshore loan so far this year, ahead of , according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The group is in active discussions with several banks for both financing legs including DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Standard Chartered Plc, the people said. The banks are expected to sign the deal in the next two or three weeks with the loan likely to be closed before the end of October, the people said.
Representatives for the Adani Group, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and SMBC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Standard Chartered, DBS and MUFG declined to comment.
The ports-to-mining conglomerate’s fundraising plans come after , clearing the way for its expansion in India and abroad. In one of the major deals since he settled the US legal probes, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. said earlier on Wednesday that through a stake sale to a consortium including Temasek Holdings Pte. and funds managed by BlackRock Inc.
In May, with the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control over apparent sanctions violations related to liquefied petroleum gas shipments linked to Iran. The US Justice Department had also dropped criminal charges against Adani and his nephew related to solar energy contracts in India.
The group is breaking the $2.5 billion refinancing loan into two parts to tap different pools of liquidity across offshore and domestic markets and bring down borrowing costs amid fast changing credit markets, the people said.
It’s the second loan that the Adani Group is taking to refinance debt used in purchasing two Indian cement manufacturers, Ambuja Cements Ltd. and ACC Ltd., after securing a $3.5 billion funding package in 2023. The Adani Group is planning to raise another $1 billion through the third leg of the refinancing in 2027, according to the people.