Vedanta shares extend fall, drop 6% amid Anil Agarwal stake sale report

Shares of Vedanta extended Thursday morning fall and were down over 6 per cent amid a report that suggested parent Vedanta Resources was looking to sell up to 5 per cent stake in the India-listed company. To recall, Hindustan Zinc, another Anil Agarwal-led company, recently announced Rs 10,986 crore in dividend payments. , as the group looks to raise funds.

Shares of Vedanta fell 6.34 per cent to hit a low of Rs 267.15. The scrip recovered a bit, but was still trading 4.4 per cent lower at Rs 272.80. The London-headquartered parent Vedanta Resources recently pre-paid all of its maturities due till March 2023. It still has about $7.7 billion outstanding, of which $3 billion is due for repayment in the fiscal year starting April 2023.

Rating agency S&P Global recently said that Vedanta Resources' ability to meet its financial obligations beyond September would depend on a planned $2 billion fundraising as well as the proposed sale of Vedanta's zinc assets in Africa.

A Bloomberg report quoting people familiar with the matter said Agarwal was studying options including selling a minority stake in Vedanta as he looks to shrink his commodities business empire’s massive debt load.

As per the Bloomberg report Agarwal was evaluating the possibility of divesting a less than 5 per cent stake in the Mumbai-listed company. A stake sale in Vedanta is a last resort for the billionaire and will only be considered if other fundraising options fail, sources told Bloomberg.

Earlier this week, the Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc declared Rs 26 per share dividend. The dividend by the world's second-largest integrated zinc producer and sixth-largest silver producer globally will help India-listed Vedanta earn Rs 7,132 crore in dividend payout on 2,74,31,54,310 shares it held in the company as of December-end. Vedanta held 64.92 per cent stake in Hindustan Zinc as of December 31.

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