Vedanta Resources chairman to take miner private on October 1
LONDON: Vedanta Resources’ chairman Anil Agarwal will take the London-listed miner private on October 1, his family trust said on Monday, a step seen by some in the industry as a prelude to a potentially broader deal with bigger miner Anglo American.
The Volcan I nvestments trust, which held about two thirds of Vedanta’s Londonlisted arm before it announced a roughly $1 billion buyout offer in July, said holders of 26 percent of shares had agreed to sell.
Volcan now holds or has received acceptances for 92.31% of Vedanta’s shares, it said, add- ing the offer would remain open for acceptances from shareholders until further notice.
Agarwal has said he wanted to buy out the London listing, which is dwarfed by Vedanta’s Indian operation, to simplify the company’s structure. Analysts and fund managers have said the move could also reduce the scrutiny the company has received as a result of leaks and fatalities.
Industry players have speculated too that Agarwal, who holds almost 20% of Anglo American, wants some form of tie-up with the global miner, and they see the move on Vedanta Resources as a step to creating a more sellable group.
reported in early July that Agarwal was seeking to merge Vedanta with Anglo’s South African unit and Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, formerly head of Johannesberglisted Anglogold Ashanti has just taken over as CEO of Vedanta Resources.