Adani Ports' bond sale draws LIC interest on India market return: Report

By Dharamraj Dhutia MUMBAI, May 29 - Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, India's largest private port operator, has placed its longest-tenor debt with state-run Life Insurance Corporation

Mumbai: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, India's largest private port operator, has placed its longest-tenor debt with state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The company raised Rs 50 billion ($585.33 million) through the sale of bonds maturing in 15 years at 7.75% annual coupon and the debentures were fully bought by LIC, the sources said, declining to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The bonds were issued at the lowest spread over the corresponding government bond yield in the last seven years.

LIC and Adani Ports did not immediately respond to Reuters emails seeking comments.

The issue marked Adani Ports' largest rupee-denominated bond and its first market return since January 2024, after Adani group companies pulled back following U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research's 2023 allegations of governance lapses.

Adani Group has denied those allegations.

Adani Ports has outstanding bonds worth around Rs 62.50 billion as of end-April, according to notes from rating agencies.

Holding around Rs 54 billion of debt, LIC was the largest holder of bonds of the company as of January 2024, according to an information memorandum of its January 2024 debt issue.

Adani Ports raised Rs 2.5 billion each via five- and 10-year bonds at coupons of 8.70% and 8.80%, respectively, in January 2024. Last week, its board approved raising up to 60 billion rupees through bond sales, with the notes rated AAA by Crisil and Care.

With the Adani Ports issue completed, more group companies are likely to tap local debt market, especially as yields are set to decline further due to policy rate cuts and surplus liquidity, two bankers said, declining to be named since they are not authorised to speak to media.