The Adani Group unit that controls a major Australian coal port has obtained a private credit loan of about A$500-million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company North Queensland Export Terminal got the loan from Farallon Capital Management and King Street Capital Management, said people who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. Spokespeople at an Australian Adani group company, Farallon and King Street declined to comment.
Australian coal-related companies are increasingly turning to higher interest-rate private loans as banks globally become more reluctant about providing financing to commodity-related companies due to ESG concerns. Sydney-based coal miner Whitehaven Coal earlier this year secured a $1.1-billion loan to buy two mines, attracting 17 private credit lenders and only one bank, while a consortium led by Golden Energy and Resources Pte Ltd., controlled by Indonesia’s Widjaja family, has also sounded out direct lenders.
The proceeds of the private loan obtained by Adani’s North Queensland Export Terminal are to be used to refinance existing debt, according to the people. An Adani Group representative also declined to comment.
North Queensland Export Terminal is a part of Bravus Australia, an Adani Group company which runs integrated energy and infrastructure services in Australia. North Queensland Export Terminal acquired a 99-year leasehold operation of the terminal from a Queensland Government entity in June 2011.
Billionaire Gautam Adani’s ports-to-power group is one of India’s largest thermal power producers with multiple coal-based plants in the nation. The group, which has recovered in large measure from a scathing short-seller report last year, said in December it will invest $100-billion in green energy over the next decade as it aims to become a net zero emitter by 2050.