The Adani Group, around 70 per cent of which is owned by the promoter family, has managed to escape the stock market bloodbath triggered by Hindenburg Research by selling stakes worth Rs 15,000 crore. The firm under fire after allegations of borrowing money by pledging inflated shares, has also been paying back loans ahead of schedule to address concerns about its debt pile. A day after risks of its power assets being taken over in the event of a default were raised, Adani has paid back more than Rs 7,000 crores, more than two years before maturity.
What this means for promoter stakes
The prepayment is for a loan which was picked up against 115 million shares of Adani Ports, along with 36 million, 31 million and 11 million shares of Adani Transmission, Enterprises and Green Energy, respectively. This will also allow Adani to get back more than 11 per cent promoter stake in the group, which has already sold more than five crore shares to Rajiv Jain's GQG Partners. This prepayment has taken the share-backed loans repaid by Adani so far to Rs 16,000 crore.
Changing fortunes
Adani Group stocks, which had lost $140 billion in value in a month, regained investor confidence and rallied ahead for five straight sessions after the block deal. Its new investor has cited strong regulated assets and cashflow as reasons behind the infusion. He also added that allegations such as Hindenburg's are often forgotten, citing the example of the Infosys whistleblower crisis.
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