EMBATTLED Indian conglomerate Adani Group said it prepaid share-backed financing of $901.16 million (£761.2m), as it looks to allay fears over leverage and debt since a US short seller's critical report sparked a stock rout.
Hindenburg Research had in its Jan. 24 report alleged stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens by Adani, and flagged "substantial" debt levels, which the group has denied.
The billionaire Gautam Adani-led group recently held road shows in Hong Kong and Singapore, and is expected to hold another set of fixed income meetings in Dubai, London and the US.
Lenders will release 31 million pledged shares of Adani Enterprises, worth a 4 per cent stake in the company, and 155 million shares, worth an 11.8 per cent stake, of Adani Ports, the group said in a statement.
Lenders will also release pledged shares equivalent to a 1.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent stake in Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, respectively.
In a similar move, the group in February pre-paid $1.11 billion (£940m). With Tuesday's (7) repayment, the group has so far repaid around $2.02bn (£1.7bn) of share-backed financing, it said.
Last week, the conglomerate told creditors it had secured a $3bn (£2.5bn) loan from a sovereign wealth fund.
That was shortly followed by a $1.87bn (£1.6bn) stake purchase from Australia-listed and Florida-based investment firm GQG Partners Incin the four group companies mentioned earlier, whose shares have since risen between 10.2 per cent to 23.4 per cent so far.
GQG's founder Rajiv Jain will meet clients and investors in Australia this week to explain its investment in the Adani group, the company said in a separate statement.
(Reuters)
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