Gautam Adani, whose Indian enterprise empire is underneath strain over fraud allegations, repaid a $1.1bn share-backed mortgage final week after dealing with a margin name of greater than $500mn, in accordance with 4 individuals with direct information of the matter.

They mentioned the compensation was designed to keep away from additional harm to investor confidence within the group.

Adani’s empire, which spans airports to vitality, has been reeling since New York-based short-seller Hindenburg Analysis final month accused it of accounting fraud and inventory value manipulation. The Adani group has denied the claims.

The lenders of the $1.1bn mortgage, which included Barclays, Citigroup and Deutsche Financial institution, requested final week that the billionaire high up the quantity of inventory pledged towards the mortgage after a pointy fall within the shares of the listed Adani firms, in accordance with the individuals with information of the matter.

Because the allegations had been revealed on January 24, the sell-off within the listed companies had at one level knocked Rs9.4tn ($114bn), or about 50 per cent, off their worth.

Because the shares continued to slip, Barclays knowledgeable Adani of a margin name equal to 50 per cent of the mortgage in money, mentioned the individuals, who spoke on situation of anonymity.

Relatively than publish money towards the mortgage, which didn’t mature till September 2024, the Adani Group’s founder and his household opted to repay it fully. Adani has not disclosed the supply of the funds used to repay the mortgage.

Adani Group mentioned it didn’t obtain a proper request for a margin name.
The complete mortgage was repaid early “per our prepayment planning”, the corporate added.

Because it seeks to arrest the disaster, the indebted group has moved to dispel fears that it’s underneath strain to cowl losses on margin loans. It has dismissed claims circulating in Indian media to that impact as “market rumours”.

On Monday, Adani introduced the early compensation of the mortgage in full, casting it as a proactive transfer to cut back leverage.

Adani declined to specify which company or private entity was the borrower on the $1.1bn mortgage, however referred the Monetary Instances to a press release launched this week that mentioned the prepayment was “in continuation of the promoters’ dedication to cut back the general promoter leverage”. In India, promoters check with founders or the individuals controlling an organization.

Different banks within the lending group included JPMorgan and Japan’s SMBC Group. All of the banks declined to remark.

The early compensation has had a “calming impact” and eased inside pressures at worldwide lenders, that are dealing with calls for from their credit score and threat administration committees to cut back their publicity to the conglomerate, one of many individuals mentioned.

Adani mentioned the compensation would launch 168mn shares in Adani Ports, 27mn in Adani Inexperienced Vitality, and 12mn in Adani Transmission.