By Saikat Das and Suvashree Ghosh
Adani Cement Industries Ltd. has pre-paid $200 million in the past week, helping pare a $1 billion mezzanine loan taken from global banks to fund the purchase of the Indian units of Holcim Ltd., people familiar with the matter said.
The pre-payment will help billionaire Gautam Adani’s firm seek an extension of the debt taken to fund the acquisition by three years, said one of the people, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.
Global banks had lent Adani $4.5 billion to finance the purchase of Holcim Ltd. cement assets, with the mezzanine loan due for maturity in September 2024.
The group got jolted in late January by a report from Hindenburg Research alleging malfeasance, which sent Adani stocks and bonds tumbling. Executives have repeatedly denied the claims, and the securities have recouped some of their declines.
Since then, the group has pre-paid about $2 billion of share-backed loans, made bond repayments on time and won another $1.9 billion investment from star investor Rajiv Jain of GQG Partners.