Vedanta Denies Any Sale Talks, Calls Them 'Untrue', 'Baseless'

Vedanta on Thursday cleared that any talks of sale in the oil-to-metals conglomerate are "untrue and baseless." The statement comes in the wake of media reports which stated that Vedanta’s Anil Agarwal is contemplating a stake sale in the company as a last-resort option. It was also reported that he is examining the possibility of selling less than 5 per cent of the company.

As per the company’s spokesperson, "Any talk of stake sale in Vedanta Ltd is untrue and baseless," thus denying any move related to sale.  

According to recent media reports, Vedanta Resources which is a majority shareholder of Vedanta Limited has been looking to reduce its debt through the sale of its zinc assets for a cash consideration of $2,981 million to Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL). It is said that the government which holds 29.54 per cent stake in Hindustan Zinc has sternly opposed this move. It may be noted that Vedanta holds 64.92 per cent of the equity share capital of HZL.

Vedanta Resources had earlier stated that it has enough means to meet debt repayment liabilities in the coming quarters as it looked to assuage investor concerns around its financial position.

As per an official statement, Vedanta Resources, which is the majority owner of mining and oil and gas company Vedanta Ltd, had stated it is in the advanced stage of finalisation to tie up $1.75 billion through a combination of syndicate loan and bilateral bank facilities.

Vedanta Resources had recently said that it has fully repaid $250 million in loans it had taken from Barclays Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.