Exclusive | Adani group raises $200 million to refinance ACC and Ambuja loan

The group raised $200 million from Qatar National Bank in a loan agreement signed last week, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The Adani Group has raised $200 million from Qatar National Bank as part of debt refinancing of a $3.5 billion loan taken for the acquisition of ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements Ltd last year, sources aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

The group raised $200 million from Qatar National Bank in a loan agreement signed last week, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

While the group had successfully refinanced the original loan in October, raising $3.2 billion from a consortium of 18 international lenders, the Adani family had infused $300 million via equity. “The terms of refinancing allowed the promoters to replace the equity component with debt at a future date,” said one of the persons aware of the negotiations.

Email queries sent to the Adani group and Qatar National Bank remained unanswered at the time of publishing. Besides pushing back the repayment period, the refinancing exercise is expected to help the group save finance costs.

The refinancing will also help the Adanis expand cement capacity, now the country’s second biggest, and fund an asset-building plan that seeks to raise installed output to 140 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2027. The current Adani Group capacity is about 110 mtpa, including about 40 mtpa under implementation, the group said in October.

The acquisition of ACC and Ambuja Cements in August last year was funded through a total acquisition financing of $6.5 billion, comprising $1.25 billion in equity and $5.25 billion in debt. The debt component consisted of a $750 million facility secured from various banks, including JPMorgan, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and SMBC. It functioned as a bridge loan against shares to support a portion of the equity for the deal. Additionally, there was a structurally subordinated debt of $1 billion obtained for a 24-month period from banks such as Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, DBS, SMBC, MUFG, Mizuho, FAB, Qatar National Bank, and BNP Paribas. Notably, $500 million of this facility had a six-month term, while the remaining $3 billion constituted an 18-month facility. The repayment process involved the complete settlement of the $750 million bridge loan facility in February. Subsequently, $500 million of the $3.5 billion senior debt was repaid in March.

An additional $200 million of the subordinated $1 billion facility was also paid back in April. Consequently, the Adani Group was left with $3 billion of senior debt and $800 million of subordinated structured debt, totalling $3.8 billion.