Adani raises $1.25 billion refinancing loan: Sources

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Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has raised $1.25 billion in non-recourse funding from a group of Australian and Asian lenders to help refinance a $2 billion bridging loan due in May, four sources with knowledge of the deal said.

The Adani group will use its own funds and the new five-year loan, which was raised at around 275 basis points over swaps, to pay back the bridging loan from State Bank of India and Standard Chartered, said the sources, who declined to be named as the matter is still confidential.

An external spokeswoman for Adani Group declined comment.

Syndicate members include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corp Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and OCBC Bank, the sources said.

The loan was funded and signed earlier this week. The sources said CBA lent A$300 million, NAB A$250 million, Westpac A$250 million, BTMU A$150 million, Mizuho A$100 million, Standard Chartered A$100 million and OCBC A$75 million.

State Bank of India was not part of the syndicate but will separately lend funds to the Adani group that will be used in the deal, the sources said.

The deal is structured with minimal amortisation and a large balloon at the end of the five-year term, they said. Macquarie Group and Standard Chartered advised Adani on the refinancing.

Adani Ports and Special Economic zone, a unit of the Adani group, bought the Abbot Point coal terminal in May last year for $2 billion. It followed Adani's purchase of Linc Energy's Galilee coal project for $2.7billion in August 2010.

Located in northern Queensland, the Abbot terminal services three mines in the Bowen Basin. The port also helps Adani ship coal from the Galilee mine to its power plants in India.

The coal terminal has two berths capable of handling cape-size vessel over 200,000 tonnes deadweight, with annual capacity to load 50 million tonnes.

India holds 10 per cent of the world's coal reserves, but a shortfall in local supplies has grown rapidly because of an increase in coal-fired power plants.