Adani Transmission raises $700 mn in one of Asia’s largest project financing deals

In one of Asia’s largest revolving project financing deals, India’s largest private sector power transmission and retail distribution company Adani Transmission Limited (ATL) has raised $700 million for under construction portfolio through agreements with international banks. This revolving facility will finance ATL’s transmission projects in Gujarat and Maharashtra to establish green corridor and strengthen the overall grid besides being an important element of its overall capital management plan.

“The project financing deal is the first of its kind sanctioned by international banks in the transmission sector, and validates the overall development model of the Adani Group,” ATL MD and CEO Anil Sardana said on the deal. The banks that committed to the revolving facility for finance are Société Générale, Siemens Bank GmbH, MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank, DBS Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Standard Chartered Bank acted as Mandated Lead Bookrunner (MLAB) and Documentation and Account bank whereas MUFG Bank acted as MLAB and technical advisor for the facility. DBS Bank Ltd., Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., Mizuho Bank Ltd., Société Générale, Siemens Bank GmbH and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, each acted as MLABs for the Facility.

Latham & Watkins LLP and Saraf Partners acted as borrower’s counsels whereas the lender’s counsels were Linklaters and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. This deal will help meet the capital recycling needs of the banks involved and also make the same capital available for ongoing and future ATL projects. The revolving nature of this arrangement will help ATL achieve 20,000 ckt km of transmission lines by 2022, as per the official communiqué.

These agreements lay out Platform Infrastructure Financing Framework of agreed principles and procedures under which ATL will engage with financers to raise financing efficiently for future projects as per the agreed parameters. The capex revolving facility will fund the capex program of $1.1 billion on a fully drawn basis.

The deal also puts the focus back on Adani Group’s commitment to cover all the standard Economic and Sustainable Goals (ESG) aspects as ATL’s business strategy is centered on achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across all its activities with affordable and clean energy. The firm is committed to decarbonising production, transmission and distribution of power to handle climate change and provide affordable and clean energy, the company said in a statement.

“The facility is a step towards overall energy transition, wherein the projects located in Gujarat are part of the green energy corridor developed to facilitate dedicated transmission of renewable energy. The projects being implemented in Maharashtra are key upgrades to strengthen the transmission system and critical response drivers to overcome the technical constraints of renewable energy interface into the grid to ensure overall grid stability as well as ensuring integration of green energy into the city of Mumbai to promote the move to a low-carbon economy,” the release read.

Also read: L&T's construction arm bags contract of Rs 5,000-7,000 cr from CPWD

Also read: IntrCity expects 30% growth this Diwali