India’s Adani Green Energy has scrapped its intention to raise capital through U.S. dollar-denominated bonds following the indictment of the Adani Group’s chairman in the U.S. for an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme.
Adani Group scrapped a $600 million dollar bond on Thursday after US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani for participating in an alleged bribe plot reported Reuters citing two sources familiar with the matter. The group’s current US-dollar notes fell sharply during trading in Asia.
Adani has been accused of allegedly engaging in a plot that included commitments to pay over $250 million in bribes to officials in the Indian government to obtain solar energy contracts. A few hours earlier, Adani Green Energy had set a price for a bond offering, which they later called off.
U.S. prosecutors stated that Adani, along with seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, conspired to pay bribes to Indian government officials in order to secure contracts anticipated to generate $2 billion in profits over two decades and to develop the largest solar power plant project in India.
A judge has authorized arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, and prosecutors intend to deliver those warrants to international law enforcement, according to court documents.
Stocks of Adani Group companies fell as much as 20% to an intra-day low on Thursday, November 21.
During early trading in Asia on Thursday, the dollar bonds associated with Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone dropped by 3 to 5 cents on the bonds. The declines were the most significant since the Adani Group faced a short-seller assault in February 2023.
Prosecutors indicated that the Adanis, along with another executive from Adani Green Energy, former CEO Vneet Jaain, secured over $3 billion in loans and bonds by concealing their misconduct from lenders and investors.
(With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg)