Adani Enterprises finalising $1.5 bln port loan

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) is finalising a A$1.4 billion project finance loan with a group of lenders to replace a US$2 billion bridge loan raised to buy an Australian coal terminal last year, two sources said.

Adani could sign the deal by end March and is in talks with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) and a couple of the Japanese mega banks for the debt, the sources said.

The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Westpac was not immediately available for comment, and CBA and NAB declined to comment.

The one-year bridge, provided by Standard Chartered Bank (STAN.L) and State Bank of India, falls due at end May according to Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp data.

The bridge was raised to fund the acquisition of the Abbot Point coal terminal in Queensland State. Adani's port operating arm Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone bought the port in May last year in one of the largest acquisitions by an Indian company in Australia.

The tenor of the new facility is split into three and five years. The loan margin has not been set, one of the source said, and there is still some room for it move up as banks' funding costs continue to soar.

NAB on Wednesday priced a A$1.5 billion five-year floating and fixed rate bond at 185 basis point over swap or twice the margin of a similar sized raising a year ago as European debt crisis roils markets.

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

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

Macquarie Capital Advisers (MQG.AX) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) are advising Adani on the refinancing said the sources.

(Reporting by Sharon Klyne and Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Richard Pullin)