The Adani Group plans to prepay a $500 million loan to a group of banks next month, as the Indian conglomerate looks to bolster its finances after a short seller attack.
Powell does not say further rate hikes are needed and markets take Heed.
Barclays Plc, Standard Chartered Plc, and Deutsche Bank AG were among the banks that lent Adani $4.5 billion to finance the purchase of Holcim Ltd. cement assets last year. A portion of the loan is due March 9.
An Adani spokeswoman said the conglomerate has decided to prepay the loan because it had been in talks with banks to refinance that part of the loan. The banks have not stalled discussions, according to a spokeswoman.
The Hindenburg Research report on alleged malpractices has resulted in a tailspin of the corporate empire of Gautam Adani, once the world's second-richest person. Adani Total Gas, Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission and Adani Ports all erased $117 billion from their combined market value in the selloff, forcing the tycoon to top up his share pledges for loans.
Hindenburg Research alleged that a web of offshore shell entities in tax havens were used to facilitate corruption, money laundering and taxpayer theft. The report was bogus and threatened legal action, according to the conglomerate. Adani gave a video speech last week stating that the balance sheet of the group is healthy.
Adani Enterprises rallied Tuesday, leading gains as most of the group's stocks rose after its founders pre-paid some debt and traders covered short positions. The flagship shares rallied as much as 25% before they finished up nearly 15%.
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