Gautam Adani is ready with his first dollar note after Hindenburg bombshell

Adani Group is marketing a $409 million bond, reportedly its first dollar note after last year's bombshell by short seller Hindenburg Research.

Adani Green Energy and associated firms are offering the 18-year bond at initial price guidance in the 7.125% area, a Bloomberg report claimed, adding that the security would further allay fears it might have to pay dearly to raise overseas capital after Hindenburg.

Adani won fresh equity backing from investors including GQG Partners LLC last year and successfully refinanced $3.5 billion worth of debt for the acquisition of cement companies, helping its securities to recover.

Orderbooks for the new bond totaled more than $1 billion as of midday in Asia on Monday, the report added.

“We expect good demand for the paper,” said Lakshmanan R, head of South & Southeast Asia corporates at research firm CreditSights. It did not appear that the borrower would “have to pay a premium to raise the bond.”

Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Plc are among the banks tapped to help with the bond deal, a sign that major lenders are prepared to do business with the Indian billionaire.

In February, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone handled a total of 35.4 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cargo, marking a 33 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

Dhamra Port recorded its highest-ever monthly cargo volume of 4.22 MMT, said Adani Ports in a regulatory filing.

For the first eleven months of the financial year 2023-24 (April 2023 to February 2024), Adani Ports has already handled 382 MMT of cargo. This puts the company on track to surpass the 400 MMT mark before the end of the fiscal year.

Adani Ports celebrated a milestone achievement, surpassing the 350 MMT cargo volume mark at its domestic ports in just 318 days.