The sale is likely to happen at a discount of around 8-10%, one of the persons said. It will help Vedanta Resources repay debt due for payment in the next few months, one of them said.
Agarwal has been seeking to slash the group’s debt burden. London-listed Vedanta Resources reduced its net debt to $6 billion in FY24 from $9.7 billion in FY22. The company aims to cut it to $3 billion over the next three years. Vedanta Resources has long-term debt maturities of $900 million in FY25 and another $900 million in FY26.
The company did not respond to ET’s queries.
UK-based Vedanta Resources held a 61.95% stake in India-listed Vedanta Ltd as of March 31 through six subsidiaries. Shares of Vedanta Ltd have rallied 76% so far this year to ₹451 on Tuesday compared with a 7% gain in the Sensex year-to-date. The group’s Indian assets are held through Vedanta Ltd. In February, Finsider International, part of Vedanta Resources, sold more than 65.5 million Vedanta Ltd shares for ₹1,700 crore. The shares were sold at ₹265.14 apiece. Since then, Vedanta Ltd shares have rallied 77%.Consolidated net debt at the Vedanta Group (comprising Vedanta Resources, Vedanta Ltd, Hindustan Zinc) was $12.35 billion as of March 31. 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 Ltd has distributed over 65,000 crore in dividends. Vedanta Resources received nearly 44,000 crore from the dividends, helping the parent reduce net debt to $6 billion from $9.7 billion during this period.Vedanta Ltd has proposed a vertical split of the India businesses and will list five entities on the domestic stock exchanges. That’s expected to happen by the end of this year. The demerger will create independent pure-play companies in aluminium, power, base metals, oil and gas, and steel and ferrous derivatives, while zinc and other existing businesses will remain under Vedanta Ltd.
Earlier this month, the Vedanta Group unveiled a strategic road map to achieve operating profit of $10 billion, with timely execution of 50-plus projects across various business verticals.
This road map was discussed during visits of Vedanta sites attended by more than 45 investors, fund managers and analysts from leading brokerages and fund houses, according to two people who were present.