The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
By Shritama Bose
MUMBAI, April 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - It is not quite business as usual for industrialist Gautam Adani. His conglomerate has just issued its first dollar bond since U.S. authorities indicted him on charges relating to a $265 million Indian solar power bribery scheme. The tycoon denies the allegations but the offering shows how the saga is impacting the $135 billion group.
It's a coup for Adani that the world's largest asset manager subscribed to roughly one-third of the $750 million offshore bond this month. The private placement will help its unit acquire infrastructure developer ITD Cementation ITCM.NS. On Tuesday, though, it emerged that other backers who signed up are yield-hungry types.
Private credit providers Farallon Capital Management, Hillhouse-backed Elham Capital, King Street Capital and UK-based Sona Asset Management also picked up slices, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed sources. King Street and Sona also helped Adani's Australian coal port unit to refinance borrowings through a loan in February.
That makes it look like global banks have become harder to tap for new loans. Barclays and Deutsche Bank were among a legion who extended $5.25 billion to the group for its purchase of two of India's largest cement makers in 2022. Indian banks are not allowed to finance onshore M&A; that limits the infrastructure giant from tapping funding at home where the central bank is cutting interest rates.
The coupon on Adani's bond is in the high single digits, two people familiar with the offering told Breakingviews. It's higher than the 7.45% rate at which Adani Green Energy ADNA.NS priced its aborted $600 million offshore bond in November. Prior to the U.S. charges, Adani disclosed its average financing cost at 8.18%.
All this suggests the Indian group is paying a price, albeit not a punishing one, for its U.S. problems. Shares of most of the group's 10 listed companies also have recovered from the indictment hit. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's decision to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has raised expectations that charges against Adani will ease. That hope might yet prove fleeting but for now, Adani is growing his business.
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CONTEXT NEWS
BlackRock subscribed to roughly one-third of a $750 million bond issued by a unit of India's Adani Group, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters Breakingviews. The bond will help to fund the Indian conglomerate's acquisition of a construction firm. Farallon Capital Management, Elham Capital and King Street Capital invested in the offering too, the Economic Times reported on April 15, citing unnamed sources.
Most Adani stocks have recovered from the US indictment shock https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRV-BRV/egvblbebavq/chart.png
(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)
((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/shritama.bose@thomsonreuters.com))
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