MC EXCLUSIVE Adani group begins talks to refinance $3.5 billion Ambuja, ACC acquisition loans

Several Adani group companies such as Adani Ports, Adani Green, Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission have in the past collectively raised billions of dollars from offshore markets.

• Adani Group seeks to refinance $3.5 billion loan for cement deals
• Group may seek Indian banks after RBI's new finance rules
• Adani shifts focus to domestic debt amid global market volatility

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Adani Group has initiated discussions with several lenders, including Indian banks, to refinance a $3.5 billion loan facility raised in October 2023 for the Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd acquisitions, people aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

The three-year loan facility is due for repayment later this year, the people added.

One of the people cited above said the Adani group is likely to tap Indian lenders too in this refinancing. That has become more feasible after the Reserve Bank of India’s February 2026 acquisition-finance framework opened the door for domestic banks to fund acquisitions, subject to prudential limits.

The rules allow banks to finance up to 75 percent of acquisition value, require the acquirer to fund  at least 25 percent from its own funds, and cap a bank’s aggregate exposure to acquisition finance at 20 percent of its eligible capital base. The framework covers acquisitions of listed and unlisted companies and permits refinancing of existing acquisition debt.

Domestic Debt Preferred

Turning to Indian lenders would also be in line with the group’s recent preference for raising more debt from domestic sources instead of relying only on foreign borrowing, the source said.

Several Adani group companies such as Adani Ports, Adani Green, Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission have in the past collectively raised billions of dollars from offshore markets.

However, over the last one and a half years, Adani group companies have also raised around Rs 15,000 crore through domestic bond offerings, with nearly Rs 3,000 crore coming from retail investors. In January, Adani Power raised Rs 7,500 crore through a non-convertible debenture offering to domestic institutional investors such as banks, mutual funds and insurance companies.

The refinancing talks come at a time when global financial markets remain volatile and uncertain because of the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which could affect borrowing costs and the overall environment for executing large financing transactions, the people cited above said.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 4.27 percent as of March 20, from 3.93 percent on February 27, before the conflict began, according to data from Bloomberg. Higher energy prices have added to inflation concerns, reduced expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cuts, and triggered a selloff in bonds, pushing yields higher.

An email sent to the Adani group did not elicit a response till the time of publication.

$3.5 billion loan facility

In October 2023, Adani group entity Adani Cement, through Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd, said it had completed a refinancing programme for acquisition debt linked to Ambuja and ACC through a $3.5 billion financing package raised from a clutch of international banks.

The banks involved in the financing arrangement included DBS Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG, ING Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank.

At the time, the group had said the loan facility would result in overall cost savings of about $300 million for the Adani Cement business. It had also said the $3.5 billion facility marked the continued execution of the capital management plan outlined in September 2022, under which Adani Cement would pursue step-by-step deleveraging.

Adani Cement is the second-largest cement player in India, driven by the group’s $6.6 billion acquisition of Ambuja and ACC, which was concluded in September 2022.