Adani Group to Refinance Debt on ACC-Ambuja Acquisition
As per those familiar with the discussions, the Adani Group is about to sign a definitive agreement to refinance $3.5 billion in loans taken for last year's acquisition of ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cement. At least 18 global banks have agreed to join a consortium led by Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered, among others, to refinance debt used to fund India's largest M&A in the building materials industry.
The loan agreement was expected to be signed late Thursday night. The Adani family, the promoters, will prepay approximately $300 million as part of the new terms. This will also be the largest refinancing transaction in Asia Pacific this fiscal year According to sources familiar with the details of the loan's pricing, the exercise is expected to save the Adanis about a quarter billion dollars over a three-year period. On March 28, ET reported that the Adani Group was looking to renegotiate the terms of ACC and Ambuja Cements acquisition financing.
The Adani Group had begun talks with lenders to extend the tenor of loans from the current 18-month period, which was set to expire in February next year, to a longer period, ET reported at the time. To be sure, the group has repaid nearly $2 billion in Ambuja and ACC loans, including $1 billion in promoter advances obtained as a loan against shares (LAS) from three foreign banks.