BlackRock has invested in a US$750m bond issued by an Adani Group unit in a privately placed deal to fund the acquisition of a construction company.

BlackRock invested around US$250m in the dollar bonds issued by Adani's Dubai based subsidiary, Renew Exim, at around 400bp over SOFR with a tenor of three to five years, according to sources.

The unit sold the bonds to fund the acquisition of an additional 20.83% stake in Indian construction and engineering company ITD Cementation. The transaction, which is part of Adani Group's plan to expand its presence in India's infrastructure sector, will increase ReNew Exim's ownership of the company to 67.46%.

"A group of international investors including BlackRock participated in a new bond issuance to support the acquisition of ITD Cementation by Renew Exim," Adani Group said in a release on April 9.

The investment is heard to have been seen as an attractive investment opportunity for BlackRock's clients in India's infrastructure sector. The bonds are expected to be part of specific BlackRock funds in which US-domiciled investors have also participated, sources said.

Adani Group has been considering a return to the US dollar market via a private placement of Reg D bonds, a format that does not require the securities to be registered with the SEC, since last year. On November 21 Adani Green Energy pulled a US$600m public bond offering following the indictment of senior executives in the US in relation to an alleged scheme to pay bribes to Indian officials for power supply contracts.

The group has denied the allegations.

On November 13, Adani Group announced on X a potential US$10bn investment in US energy security and infrastructure projects which it said could create around 15,000 US jobs.

The fundraising comes after Adani Green Energy refinanced a US$1.06bn loan in March that backed the development of a solar-wind hybrid renewable project, in its first visit to the credit market since the indictment. The loan was refinanced through a fully amortising rupee loan from Power Finance Corp with a door-to-door maturity of 19 years and an all-in cost of 8.9%, IFR reported.

BlackRock declined to comment on the deal. Adani Group did not respond to an email seeking confirmation of the details of the deal.

Source: IFR