(Adds details, Adani's response)
April 24 (Reuters) - India's Adani Ports and Special
Economic Zone , a group company of the beleaguered
Adani Group, said on Monday that it started a buyback programme
of certain debt securities to prepay part of its loans due in
2024.
Adani Ports has floated a tender of up to $130 million in
outstanding debt, it said in an exchange filing, as it seeks to
boost investor confidence after the group's shares were
pummelled earlier this year by a U.S. short-seller's report.
Led by billionaire businessman Gautam Adani, the group's
seven-listed stocks have lost about $114 billion in market value
since a Jan. 24 report by Hindenburg Research accused it of
improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation. The
group denied all allegations.
The Economic Times first reported on Monday that the Adani
Group plans to buy back foreign currency bonds of various group
companies. The buyback will start with a $650-million tranche at
its ports unit, the report said, citing sources.
The group will likely begin with a first tranche amounting
to $250-$300 million in the current quarter and look to buy back
the rest in the upcoming quarters, the report said.
Adani Group declined to comment on the ET report.
Shares and bonds of Adani Group have regained some lost
ground over the past month or so after it repaid some debt and
attracted a $1.9 billion investment from boutique investment
firm GQG Partners.
The U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by Adani Ports rose
after the company floated a tender of 3.375% 2024 maturity
dollar bonds.
(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
