Finsider International Company sold 6.55 crore shares or a 1.76 percent stake in mining major Vedanta Limited, according to bulk deals data released by BSE. This was part of an 8.2 crore share deal involving other buyers and sellers.
The exchange did not publish the names of the buyers.
The deal happened at an average price of Rs 265.14 per share. That means Finsider International Company got Rs 1,737 crore from selling the stake. The company is part of promoter group holding a 4.40 percent stake in the firm as of December-end.
Media reports said the promoters were looking to sell stake worth $1 billion in the company to Rajiv Jain's investment firm GQG Partners.
The stake sale comes at a time when Vedanta is facing around $6.4 billion in outstanding debt, including a $4.5-billion payment due by fiscal 2025. The promoter and group entities, as of December 2023, held a total of 63.71 percent stake in Vedanta.
Over the last year, foreign portfolio investor GQG Partners has increased stakes in other Indian companies, including Adani Ports and GMR Airport Infrastructure.
Earlier in the day, the stock price of Vedanta dipped 4 percent to Rs 268.
On February 14, the Supreme Court said that it could constitute a panel to study the feasibility of restarting the shut Sterlite copper smelting plant which is owned by Vedanta in Tuticorin. Vedanta is the parent company of Sterlite. In 2018, the plant was shut down after protests against the plant had resulted in 13 deaths due to police firing.
In Q3, the Anil Agarwal-led company reported a 40.81 percent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,464 crore while revenue for the quarter was flat at Rs 33,691.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, Deven Choksey, Director, DR Choksey, said that as Vedanta is passing through a restructuring program there is going to be some amount of balance sheet challenge, for some time to come because of which it is likely that the stocks will not perform as much.
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