Adani Group bonds fall for 2nd day after US indictment spooks investors

Adani Group bonds were pressured for a second session, following the indictment of Gautam Adani by US prosecutors over an alleged $265 million bribery scheme

Adani Group bonds were pressured for a second straight session on Friday, November 22, 2024, following the indictment of group Chairman Gautam Adani by US prosecutors over an alleged $265 million bribery scheme, according to a Reuters report.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad April 2, 2014 (Amit Dave/Reuters)

For instance, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone bonds which mature in 2027 traded at 92 cents on the dollar and the longer-dated maturities traded around 80 cents.

This was despite the group trying to assure investors that it was a “law-abiding organization,” calling out the accusations as “baseless and denied,” and saying that it would seek “all possible legal recourse.”

“The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations,” it said. “We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws.”

However, the companies still lost around $27 billion in market value on Thursday.

The US prosecutors have so far, charged eight people with agreeing to pay around $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials for obtaining contracts that could bring in $2 billion of profit over 20 years as well as to develop India's largest solar power plant project, according to the report.

The prosecutors also added that Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar Adani and former Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet Jaain have also raised over $3 billion in loans and bonds by hiding corruption from lenders and investors, the report read.

More importantly, this led to Kenya cancelling a deal worth nearly $2 billion which would have given control of the country's main airport to the Adani Group.