Vedanta Limited is considering listing all or some of its business separately, chairman Anil Agarwal said in a YouTube video on Friday. The business that is likely to be listed separately includes metals and mining oil & gas and potentially chipmaking. Anil Agarwal has clarified that the final decision will be taken after consultation with shareholders and the reorganization can help in fetching better returns and dividends for the investors.
“I have asked all my advisors and my people if can we have all products (businesses that Vedanta operates) or some products to be independent,” Agarwal said in a video message posted on YouTube quoted by the news agency Reuters.
“If you have one share of Vedanta Ltd, you will have many shares of other companies and people will have an opportunity to invest in different areas. Some international companies want to invest in a particular area, they will get that opportunity,” he said.
The development comes three years after Anil Agarwal attempted to delist Vedanta Limited in May 2020. The company proposed to buy back the shares held by public shareholders and offered a price of ₹87.5 per share. The delisting attempt failed as Vedanta Limited didn’t receive the required number of shares for the delisting offer to go through.
Financial difficulties
The move seems to be another attempt by Vedanta Resources (holding company of Vedanta Limited) to raise funds as the credit agencies are downgrading its outlook for its potential to fulfill debt obligations. S&P Global Ratings estimated that the funding gap of Vedanta Resources will be $2 billion until August 2024.
Recently, Anil Agarwal tried to reduce the conglomerate’s debt of $7.7 billion by orchestrating a $2.98 billion transaction. This involved Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Vedanta Ltd., purchasing certain zinc assets from the parent company. The move was opposed by the Government of India which holds a 30% ownership stake in Hindustan Zinc.
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Updated: 25 Aug 2023, 02:38 PM IST