Topline
Adani Group has reportedly moved ahead on its plan to secure up to $1 billion in privately placed bonds, an effort to hearten stockholders as the company battles allegations of market manipulation and accounting malpractices.
Gautam Adani, chairman and founder of Adani Group, at a 2018 summit in India.
Key Facts
Executives from the Ahmedabad, India-based conglomerate met with major investors, including BlackRock Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co., according to a report from Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter.
The meetings are part of a plan to market privately placed bonds, which are typically used for debt refinancing, as well as expansions and acquisitions, for at least three of its group companies, according to Bloomberg.
If the firm can secure investors for the bonds, it would be the first debt issuance for Adani since accounting fraud was alleged against it in January.
Adani aims to launch the bonds in two tranches, with the first planned to be about $450 million and starting by September, per the Bloomberg report.
PIMCO declined to comment to Forbes, while Adani Group and BlackRock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bloomberg reported that Blackstone Inc. was also meeting with Adani, but the investment management firm told Forbes it had not met with Adani about this round of privately placed bonds.
Adani Group’s share price had increased more than 6% at noon on Wednesday, and spiked another 2.8% after Bloomberg’s report.
Key Background
Adani Group has watched its market value plummet since January, when New York City-based investment research firm Hindenburg Research released a report claiming accounting fraud it deemed “the largest con in corporate history.” Its shares endured another bout of sell-offs on Tuesday after an Indian media report raised questions about the company’s claim that it has repaid $2.15 billion in loans borrowed against its stock in early March.
Forbes Valuation
Gautam Adani, the founder and chairperson of Adani Group, currently has a net worth of $47.3 billion, according to our estimates, making him the 24th richest person in the world. He’s fallen from the third richest person in the world, however, losing more than $79 billion in the past two months. His brother, Vinod Adani, who has a roughly $6 billion fortune as of February, is emerging as a mastermind behind several aspects of Adani Group, Forbes has found. Although he holds no official position at the firm, the Hindenburg report claimed he is a central figure in the company’s alleged fraud.
Big Number
$1 billion. That’s how much Adani Group hopes to raise through note sales by its subsidiaries, Adani Green Energy Ltd., Adani Transmission Ltd. and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd., sources told Bloomberg.
Further Reading
Adani Group Is Said to Consider Privately Placed Bond Offerings (Bloomberg)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/03/29/adani-group-meeting-with-us-investors-as-it-eyes-1-billion-in-privately-placed-bonds-report-says/