Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) announced its intention to prepay $195 million of bonds, marking a significant move in response to allegations made by a US short-seller earlier this year. According to a regulatory filing, the conglomerate will use its cash reserves to buy back (prepay) the bonds, which were originally due in July 2024. In May, APSEZ had already prepaid $130 million of the principal sum, which initially stood at $650 million. This latest round of prepayment involves another $195 million from the remaining outstanding balance of $520 million. The company's board approved this second tranche of the tender offer to purchase $195 million in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 3.375% senior notes due in 2024, representing 30% of the principal amount of the notes. During the first round of buyback in May, APSEZ had committed to repurchasing 20% of the $650 million principal ($130 million) over five consecutive quarters. The latest buyback amount of $195 million exceeds the sum due to be prepaid. Adani Ports stated that the buyback tender will remain open until October 26, with a total consideration of $975 per $1,000 principal amount of the note for each note purchased. The Adani group, hit hard by allegations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation by Hindenburg in January, has been actively working to recover through debt prepayment and raising funds from overseas investors like GQG Investment Partners. The group has consistently denied all allegations made against it. For the offer, Adani Ports has enlisted the services of Barclays Bank, DBS Bank, Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, Mizuho Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd, MUFG Securities Asia Singapore Branch, SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong), and Standard Chartered Bank as deal managers. Additionally, the promoter group of Adani Ports increased its stake in the company from 63.06% to 65.23%, as revealed in stock exchange filings. Promoter group firms Resurgent Trade and Investment Ltd acquired nearly 1% of the company's stake, while another 1.2% was purchased by Emerging Market Investment DMCC. In August, GQG increased its stake in Adani Ports to 5.03% through market purchases, establishing a presence in five of the 10 Adani group firms. GQG also acquired a 7.73% stake in group firm Adani Power Ltd on August 16, following the sale of an 8.09% stake in Adani Power by the promoter group firms Worldwide Emerging Market Holding and Afro ASIA Trade and Investments through block deals.