Hindenburg-hit Adani Group in talks to refinance up to $3.8-bn debt: Report

Adani Group is in talks with lenders to refinance up to $3.8 billion of a loan facility taken for its acquisition of Ambuja Cements Ltd last year, said a report on Tuesday.

The ports-to-power conglomerate is mulling whether to convert the original loan into debt with a longer maturity period and has started talking to banks individually about that plan, reported Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.

The Gautam Adani-led conglomerate expects to conclude the process within four months and most of its existing lenders, including Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Plc  and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, are expected to participate, the report said.

However, the report cautioned that the deal is yet to be finalised and may not go ahead.

Last year, Adani Group acquired ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements Ltd in a $10.5-billion deal that was financed by bridge loans.

The Economic Times had reported in March that Adani was seeking to renegotiate terms of outstanding loans worth $4 billion taken last year to buy the cement firms.

The Adani Group's high debt levels were among the concerns that were flagged by US short-seller Hindenburg in a scathing report on January 24.

The short-seller also said the conglomerate improperly used tax havens, among other allegations that wiped out over $100 billion in investor wealth in the Adani group's listed entities.

The conglomerate has called the report baseless and has since garnered investor support and repaid debt.

Last month, a Supreme Court-appointed panel said Sebi had "drawn a blank" in investigations into suspected violations in overseas investments in the Adani Group.

With inputs from Reuters

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