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- Embattled Indian conglomerate Adani Group is paying back $1.1 billion in debt ahead of schedule.
- It's scrambling to halt a stocks rout that's wiped out over $110 billion in market value over the past fortnight.
- The selloff came after US short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the group of market manipulation and fraud.
Adani Group said Monday that it would pay back over $1 billion in debt ahead of schedule in a bid to shore up investor confidence, after its companies were battered by a two-week stock-market rout.
The Indian conglomerate said in a statement that it plans to repay just over $1.1 billion of loans ahead of their scheduled maturity in September 2024.
The borrowings were backed by Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Transmission – three of the group's companies that have seen their share prices plummet over the past fortnight.
The selloff came after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research published a bombshell report that accused Adani of "pulling the largest con in corporate history" through "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud".
Adani has denied Hindenburg's allegations – but the report still sparked a massive stock market rout that has wiped more than $110 billion in market value off the group's 10 listed companies in the space of just a fortnight.
The market turmoil has also erased over $60 billion of chairman and founder Gautam Adani's personal fortune.
He was the world's third-richest person when Hindenburg's report was published but has slipped to 21st position in the two weeks that followed, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
By repaying the loan early, he could be trying to demonstrate to investors that he still has significant financial strength despite the ongoing sell-off.
Adani said it had paid off its debt ahead of schedule "in light of recent market volatility and in continuation of the promoters' commitment to reduce the overall promoter leverage backed by Adani Listed Company shares."