The Adani group is stepping up its outreach to bond investors amid speculation the company is reviving a plan to raise up to $1.5 billion through the private placement of bonds.

Reports from Bloomberg and Reuters said the conglomerate will hold a fixed-income road show next week in Asia to boost investor confidence. Group chief financial officer Jugeshinder Singh is likely to participate in the events.

A road show will be held in Singapore on February 27, followed by meetings in Hong Kong on February 28 and March 1.

While there was no official comment, sources said the events could be held to reassure investors following the allegations levelled against Adani by US shortseller Hindenburg that led to a sell-off in its bonds and share prices.

It is not clear if the road shows are meant to ascertain investor mood ahead of a fresh float to cut debt and fund the group’s expansion plans.

Seven listed companies of the group led by Gautam Adani have lost over $140 billion in market value since a January 24 report by Hindenburg Research alleged the group improperly used offshore tax havens and manipulated stock, and flagged concerns over its high debt levels.

Adani has rejected the allegations and denied wrongdoing. Dollar bonds of Adani Group were largely trading lower on Friday. Bonds of Adani Ports maturing in February 2031 led the losses, while some notes of Adani Green Energy were marginally higher.

It remains to be seen at what price the group would raise fresh funds through these instruments, if there are such plans.

Unconfirmed reports also say that it may raise funds to pay off $500 million of overseas loans that are backed by the collateral of promoter shares in various group companies.

Adani has already held calls with bondholders earlier this month in attempts to assuage investor concerns, where group executives revealed refinancing plans at some of its units and also plans to completely pre-pay all loans against shares.

Barclays, BNP Paribas, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, ING, IMI-Intesa Sanpaolo, MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC Nikko and Standard Chartered Bank are the banks organising next week’s roadshow, according to the document.

Meanwhile, Adani Power on Friday said its subsidiary APML and Orient Cement have decided to terminate a pact signed between the two entities for utilisation of a parcel of land in Maharashtra.

With inputs from Reuters

Sri Lanka clears two projects

Mumbai: Sri Lanka’s investment promotion body has approved two renewable energy projects of Adani to be set up in the north and eastern regions of the island nation at an investment of $442 million.

The wind power plant at Mannar will operate at a capacity of 250mw, while the wind power plant at Pooneryn has capacity of 100 mw.

“The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka has issued a letter of approval to India’s Adani Green Energy Limited for the two wind power plants to be set up in Mannar and Pooneryn at a total investment of $442 million,” a release said.

The two wind power plants of 350MW are scheduled to be commissioned in two years and they will be added to the national grid by 2025.

Early this week, the Adani Group representatives met the minister of energy Kanchana Wijesekara to check on the progress of the two projects.

OUR BUREAU