Adani Group prepays $200 million part of debt used to acquire Holcim's India units: Report

Mumbai: Adani Cement Industries Ltd. has made a pre-payment of $200 million in the last week to reduce its $1 billion mezzanine loan that it had taken from global banks to finance the acquisition of Holcim Ltd.'s Indian units, Bloomberg reported citing sources.

IBNS • 28 Apr 2023, 08:52 pm

This pre-payment will enable Adani Cement Industries to extend the debt taken for the acquisition by three years. The mezzanine loan, which was part of the $4.5 billion loan extended by global banks, was originally set to mature in September 2024, the report said.

In September 2022, the Adani Group acquired Ambuja Cements and ACC Ltd, which are subsidiaries of the Holcim Group based in Switzerland, for a total of $6.4 billion. With the acquisition, Adani has become the second largest cement manufacturer in India, with Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement being the only larger player.

In January, Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-seller, accused the Indian conglomerate of wrongdoing, causing a decline in Adani's stocks and bonds.

However, the company has since paid off approximately $2 billion in share-backed loans, met its bond payments, and received a $1.9 billion investment from renowned investor Rajiv Jain of GQG Partners.