MUMBAI: Billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group plans to tap nearly a dozen global lenders to raise as much as $6.4 billion to fund a recent acquisition and refinance its earlier debt, in what could be termed as one of the biggest fund raising exercises in corporate India in the recent past.
Adani group is raising funds to finance the recent $2.9-billion acquisition of European liquid-storage operator Evos by its subsidiary Adani Ports, and also to refinance the $3.5 billion it had raised to fund the ACC-Ambuja Cements acquisition in September 2022.
The three-year $3.5-billion debt, raised in October 2023, is up for renewal next month. The $2.9-billion Evos deal is yet to be concluded. Among the dozen overseas lenders it has approached for funds are the Japanese majors MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank for refinancing, and First Abu Dhabi Bank and Singaporean lender DBS, among others, for the Evos deal, according to a person familiar with the development. The person did not want to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
The group may also tap the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), the person added. An email sent to the Adani Group seeking a response to this story remained unanswered.
In February this year, the RBI opened the doors for domestic lenders to finance M&As by issuing the acquisition finance framework. At the recent earnings call, SBI chairman CS Setty told reporters that the bank was very active on the M&A financing front and was part of many recent deals. However, he did not disclose how much it had financed, saying that, given its large overall book of over `52 trillion, this was not significant enough to quantify.
The new refinancing facility will replace the financing completed in October 2023, when Adani Cements, through Endeavour Trade and Investment, had raised $3.5 billion to buy ACC and Ambuja Cements from a syndicate of 10 international lenders led by the Japanese majors MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho Bank; Singapore’s DBS Bank; First Abu Dhabi Bank of the UAE; the French lender BNP Paribas; German major Deutsche Bank; ING Bank of Australia; and the British lenders Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays.
The Gautam Adani-led group has been on a debt-driven growth spree for long. The combined debt across its four largest borrowing entities exceeded Rs 3.5 tn as of September 2026.
Of this, the largest was with Adani Green Energy at Rs 1.03 trillion, followed by Adani Enterprises at Rs 97,294 crore, Adani Power at Rs 61,000 crore and the group flagship Adani Ports & SEZ at Rs 57,700 crore.
On a fundraising spree
One of the biggest debt-raising exercises in corporate India
$3.5-bn debt, raised in Oct 2023, up for renewal next month
$2.9-bn Evos deal yet to be concluded
Combined debt across its 4 largest borrowing entities exceeded H3.5 tn in Sept
