Gautam Adani in talks to prepay share pledges to boost confidence – Bloomberg News

(Reuters) -Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani is in talks with lenders to prepay and release pledged shares as he seeks to restore confidence in the financial health of his conglomerate, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The move would see lenders release some of the stock in Adani Group companies that was pledged as collateral, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

The group hasn’t faced margin calls on these pledges and is seeking the prepayment proactively, according to the report.

The key priority is to remove any concern about margin calls and Adani officials will speak with investors in coming days and will make all payments on time, Bloomberg reported.

Goldman Sachs trading executives said on an investor call Thursday it was the firm’s view that the Adani debt had hit a floor in the short term and bonds of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd have become interesting due to the value of the company’s current assets, Bloomberg said in a separate report, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The Goldman traders touted Adani Ports’ debt as being well capitalized with cash on hand, the report said, adding that they also expected this entity to be able to refinance its bonds.

Adani Group and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Reuters reported earlier that Adani entities made scheduled coupon payments on outstanding U.S. dollar-denominated bonds on Thursday, adding that the conglomerate plans to issue a credit report by Friday that will address concerns raised by Hindenburg Research about its liquidity.

Since Hindenburg’s report on Jan. 24, Adani Group’s companies have lost nearly half their combined market value. Adani Enterprises – described as an incubator of Adani’s businesses – has lost $26 billion in market capitalisation.

On Thursday, Adani’s market losses swelled above $100 billion.

(Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu and Sneha Bhowmik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Anil D’Silva)