NEW DELHI: Having failed in its last attempt to delist its Indian arm Vedanta Ltd early this year, Anil Agarwal-led parent company Vedanta Resources Plc upped the ante on Tuesday. The company announced in a stock exchange filing that it will now give a price of Rs 235 per share in its open offer—nearly 4 per cent higher than its current trading price.
In January, Vedanta Resources had offered to buy up to 10 per cent in Vedanta Ltd at Rs 160 apiece. It also increased its offer size on Tuesday to 651 million shares, representing 17.5 per cent stake in Vedanta Ltd. If it manages to pull off the buy-off, it will cost the company Rs 15,298.5 crore.
According to the company, the offer price of Rs 235/share is at an around 60 per cent, 45 per cent and 30 per cent premium over the 6 month, 90 day, and 60 day volume weighted average price (VWAP), respectively.The previous offer price of Rs 160 apiece for 37.17 crore shares had been than Vedanta scrip’s trading price.
If the move works out, Vedanta Resources’ shareholding in Vedanta Ltd will increase from the current 55.1 per cent to 72.6 per cent. The open offer starts on March 23 and closes on April 7, the Vedanta statement added. In October last year, Vedanta Resources had failed to garner the required number of shares to delist its Indian arm at the offer price of Rs 87.5 apiece. In December, the promoters had increased their stake from 50.14 per cent to 55.11 per cent through block deals totalling Rs 2,959 crore.
The acquirer and PACs have decided to increase the number of equity shares to be acquired in the open offer to up to 61.5 crore shares, representing 17.5 per cent of fully diluted voting share capital, and increase the offer price to Rs 235 per share including interest of Rs 1.29 per equity share,” the company’s filing said.
Group restructuring strategy playing out
The process which has been underway for several years has involved mergers of group companies and may involve other share acquisitions, Vedanta says