Vedanta is planning to acquire an additional 6% stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), as and when the government sells its holding, as per Business Standard. Vedanta currently owns 64.9% in HZL and the government holds at 29.6% stake. The government is said to be planning to sell a 15% stake by end-March via an offer for sale and will lose special rights over HZL. This would hopefully allow Vedanta to sell its offshore zinc assets to HZL helping it raise some cash.
Separately, the Chairman Anil Agarwal said that the group has ample funding options and aims to become a “zero debt company” in the medium term. He said Vedanta was in talks with JPMorgan and other banks for a $1bn loan, with an interest rate of 8-10%. Regarding its dollar bond maturities due in April and May amounting to $900mn, he dismissed concerns about paying them. He said that the commodities businesses were “throwing off enough cash” and expected a $9bn of profit across the group, adding “$1bn is peanuts for us”.
Vedanta’s dollar bonds were in the green – its 9.25% 2026s were up 0.8 points to 70.42, yielding 23.04%.
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