Vedanta delisting offer fails; tendered shares to be returned to investors

 The de-listing offer of Vedanta Ltd has failed, shows the company's statement to the stock exchanges.

"We have been informed by Vedanta Resources Limited and its indirect subsidiaries namely, Vedanta Holdings Mauritius Limited and Vedanta Holdings Mauritius II Limited, (collectively to be referred as “Acquirers”) that the Delisting Offer is deemed to have failed in terms of Regulation 19(1) of the Delisting Regulations," said Vedanta Limited in a statement available on the BSE website.

To de-list the shares from stock exchanges, Vedanta’s UK promoters required 1.34 billion shares.

"The total number of Offer Shares validly tendered by the Public Shareholders in the Delisting Offer is 1,25,47,16,610 Offer Shares, which is less than the minimum number of Offer Shares required to be accepted by the Acquirers in order for the Delisting Offer to be successful," the statement added.

Vedanta promoters wanted to buy out 1.70 billion shares or 47.67 per cent stake held by the public to delist the firm.

The Vedanta stock closed at Rs 122.10 on the BSE on Friday, with a gain of 3.83 per cent over previous close.

Vedanta's Venkatakrishnan resigns; Sunil Duggal appointed interim CEO

Vedanta Ltd on Friday said its Chief Executive Officer Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan has resigned citing personal reasons.

The resignation will be effective April 5, Vedanta Ltd said in a BSE filing.

"The board of directors of the company in their meeting held on March 27, 2020, have...taken note of resignation of S Venkatakrishnan from the position of the whole-time director and CEO of the company w.e.f. close of business hours on April 5, 2020, on account of personal reasons," Vedanta Ltd said.

The company said Sunil Duggal, whole-time director and CEO of Hindustan Zinc Ltd, a subsidiary of Vedanta, will take additional charge as an interim CEO of Vedanta Ltd from April 6.

The board has also re-designated Navin Agarwal as executive vice-chairman of the company's board with effect from the close of business hours on Friday.

In a separate statement, Vedanta Ltd said Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan will step down as CEO and the company's director with effect from April 5, 2020, for personal reasons and will rejoin his family in South Africa.

It said the company has appointed Sunil Duggal as interim chief executive officer of the company.

He will report to chairman, the statement said.

On his appointment, Duggal in the statement said, "I am indebted to the company for this appointment. I am confident that at Vedanta, with its strong moorings, I will be able to steer the company through its trajectory of growth and contribute to the economic progress of our country.

Vedanta to raise up to Rs 2,000 cr through non-convertible debentures

Vedanta Ltd on Sunday said it proposes to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore via issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

"We would like to inform you that the company proposes to offer rated, secured, redeemable, non-cumulative, non-convertible debentures aggregating up to Rs 2,000 crore in one or more tranches," Vedanta said in a filing to the BSE.

The company will hold a meeting of its committee of directors on Wednesday on this issue.

"The above issuance is pursuant to the approval of the shareholders passed vide special resolution at the 53rd annual general meeting of the company held on August 24, 2018 and the board of directors' resolution passed at their meeting held on May 7, 2019," the filing said.

Vedanta Ltd is a diversified natural resources company whose business primarily involves producing oil and gas, zinc-lead-silver, copper, iron ore, aluminium and commercial power.

The company has presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Ireland.

Vedanta is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company.

Commercial coal mining for pvt sector to cut import dependency: Vedanta

Mining baron Anil Agarwal on Friday said commercial coal mining for the private sector in the country will help in cutting down import dependency and his firm Vedanta Ltd will look for opportunities once it begins.

Also, Agarwal said Vedanta is keen to participate in auction of iron ore in future.

In a major reform in the coal sector since its nationalisation in 1973, the government last year in February had allowed private companies to mine the fossil fuel for commercial use, ending the monopoly of state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL).

The Centre had termed the move of opening up of commercial coal mining for the private sector as the most ambitious coal sector reform since the nationalisation of this sector.

"Import of coal is a sin. We (India) already have huge reserves of coal. In exchange of import, huge money goes out of the country," Agarwal told PTI on the sidelines of an Assocham event here.

He further said: "Today we can double the production of Coal India and in coming days more mines open so we don't import coal. If commercial mines will be opened we will for sure look for them".

Vedanta, he said, will also participate in the auction of iron ore mines in future.

Vedanta to export over 50% of aluminium as India increases imports

Vedanta Ltd. aims to increase its aluminium exports at a time imports comprise 58 per cent of India's consumption of the metal at the end of FY19.

Vedanta, India's top aluminium producer, in this fiscal year aims to ship more than half of its production volume to international markets. At the end of last fiscal, Vedanta overtook Hindalco as the top aluminium producer, churning out 1.96 million tonnes and clocking year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 17 per cent.

Domestic aluminium makers have seen their market share steadily erode because of imports, especially those from South East Asian countries that have free trade agreements (FTAs) with India. India's aluminum imports in FY19 peaked at 2.3 million tonnes, resulting in a forex outgo of $5.5 billion or one per cent of total imports by value.

“Over the last few years we have observed a surge of aluminium scrap imports," said Ajay Kapur, chief executive officer (aluminium and power) of Vedanta Ltd.

"We, as an industry, are working with the Indian government seeking support to protect the domestic primary industry from increasing scrap import. The domestic market continues to be our key focus for maximising sales in India”.

Vedanta has a nameplate capacity of 2.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in its smelters in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The company has 37 per cent market share among domestic aluminium makers.

Vedanta's annual report for 2018-19 said only 30 per cent of the company's sales were in the domestic market--lower than previous years as India experienced a surge of imports.

“Vedanta boosted its sales to Japan and South-East Asia in 2018. International sales to our established customer base in other key Asian, European and North and South American markets also grew, increasing by 30 per cent to 1.3 million tonnes this year”, the annual report noted.

The bulk of Vedanta's exports of aluminium products are to freight friendly destinations. “These will continue to be our focus area, apart from specific value-added product sales in Europe and USA. We do not see Rusal-related developments to significantly impact our exports to these geographies," Kapur said.

Vedanta is also sharpening focus on value added, downstream products. It has pioneered the production of primary foundry alloys which is imported in large volumes into India. Also, Vedanta is in the process of ramping up its sales for both domestic and export markets along with multiple alloy variants as per industry requirements for the automotive industry.

“Aluminium billets, which are majorly used in building & construction as well as the transportation industry is one of the most sought-after value-added products. Vedanta, with its stronghold on quality has created an established base of customers globally. With over 20 plus variants, our billets have made a strong mark in the global extrusion industry”, said Kapur.

Vedanta ranks among the biggest producers of aluminium wire rods in the world. The flip coil, a recent product, is a variant of its aluminium wire rod and is used as a de-oxidation product in the steel industry.