Vedanta Limited promoter Anil Agarwal will take his mining and oil- and power-producing company private. But there’s a hitch as the closing share price of the company — Rs89.30 — is already above its offer price of Rs87.5. The share closed 12.2% higher today on the BSE from its previous close.
The company informed the stock exchanges about the decision by its parent, Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Resources (VRL), to delist it from the stock exchanges in India. The promoter group, led by VRL, holds 50.14% stake in the company while the public holds 49.86%.
“The indicative offer price should in no way be construed either as an obligation/ restriction on VRL and/or its subsidiaries to accept the shares tendered in the offer at a price lower than, equal to or higher than the indicative offer price or as a restriction on the public shareholders to tender the shares at price higher than the indicative offer price,” Vedanta said in the BSE notice.
The market capitalization of Vedanta is Rs33,194 crore. The free-float market cap is Rs16,597 crore.
Once the delisting from the BSE and the National Stock Exchanges happens, the group also plans to delist Vedanta’s American Depositary Shares from the New York Stock Exchange.
Vedanta will now have to call a board meeting to consider the proposal by VRL. Subsequent to that, the proposal for delisting will have to secure the approval of the shareholders.
Agarwal had taken his London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources Plc private in 2018. Once Vedanta Limited is delisted, Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) will be the only listed entity of the group. The Indian government holds 29.54% stake in HZL, leaving delisting of this company an unlikely event any time soon.
News Source: Livemint