Adani Returns To Bond Market 6 Months After Hindenburg Report, Raises Rs 1,250 Crore

While the company did not disclose the interest rate, a report citing data from the National Securities Depository Ltd said that the three-year bond carried an annual coupon of 10 per cent.

Adani Enterprises on Thursday raised Rs 1,250 crore through a local-currency bond sale, the company informed in a stock exchange filing. This is the first time Adani Group tapped the local corporate bond market since the Hindenburg Research came out with its scathing report in January. 

Billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship firm in its exchange filing said, "We would like to inform that the company has raised Rs 1,250 Crores today...by allotment of 1,25,000 secured, unrated, unlisted, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of the face value of Rs 1 lakh each on private placement basis."

While the company did not disclose the interest rate, a PTI report, citing data from the National Securities Depository Ltd said that the three-year bond carried an annual coupon of 10 per cent.

As per the report, Adani Enterprises last raised funds in September 2022 with a primary issuance of bonds at an 8.40 per cent return for 17 months. That funding was 140 basis points more than the current government bond yields.

The present bond offering has an almost 300 basis point premium over the comparable government bond yield, the report said. However, unlike government bonds, which pay interest semi-annually, Adani bonds pay interest annually.

The report citing NSDL data also said that Adani Enterprises raised the new debt by pledging 21.4 per cent of the shares of Adani Road Transport. The company has pledged 1.95 per cent of Adani Road Transport shares during the September 2022 bond issue.

In January, the US short-seller Hindenburg Research published a damning report against to Adani Group alleging stock manipulation and accounting fraud. Following the report, the companies of Adani Group suffered a market rout, which at one point erased about $145 billion from the conglomerate's market value.   

Adani Group has repeatedly denied all allegations from the Hindenburg report. As per the report, Adani is now trying to make a comeback by recasting its ambitions, scrapping acquisitions, pre-paying debt and borrowings, and scaling back its pace of spending on new projects. One of these steps included promoters selling shares worth Rs 11,330 crore since May to a leading US-based global equity investment boutique GQG Partners in two tranches.