Billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources is likely to sell a 2.5% stake in Vedanta Ltd in the next couple of weeks through block deals, said two persons aware of the development. Promoter group is likely to sell about 9 crore shares to raise around Rs 4,000 crore through block deals, said one of the persons quoted above.
UK-based Vedanta Resources held a 61.95% stake in Vedanta as of March 31, 2024, through six subsidiaries. Shares of Vedanta have rallied 83% so far this year to Rs 471 on Friday, compared to a 7% gain in the Sensex year-to-date. The deal is likely to be done by one of the international banks, sources said.
In February, Finsider International, part of Vedanta Resources, sold more than 6.55 crore Vedanta shares for Rs 1,700 crore. The shares were sold at Rs 265.14 apiece. Since then, Vedanta shares have rallied 77%.
However, a spokesperson for Vedanta Resources strongly denies any plans to sell a stake in Vedanta Limited.
The Vedanta Group’s consolidated net debt was $12.35 billion as of March 31, 2024. Of this, 49% was rupee-denominated and the balance was in foreign currency, the company informed its bondholders in a recent investor presentation.
Between FY22 and FY24, Vedanta has distributed over Rs 65,000 crore in dividends. Vedanta Resources received nearly Rs 44,000 crore from the dividend helping the parent to reduce net debt to $6 billion from $ 9.7 billion during this period. It aims to lower the debt to $3 billion in another three years.
Vedanta has proposed a vertical split of the businesses and will list five entities on the stock exchanges, which is expected by the end of this year. The demerger will create independent pure-play companies in aluminium, power, base metals, oil & gas and steel and ferrous, while zinc and other existing businesses will remain under Vedanta.
Early this month, Vedanta Group has charted a strategic roadmap to achieve an operating profit of $10 billion, with timely execution of 50-plus projects across various business verticals.
This roadmap was discussed during visits to Vedanta sites attended by more than 45 investors, fund managers, and analysts from leading brokerages and fund houses last week, according to two people who were present.
Source: Economic Times