Vedanta subsidiary to sell stake worth over Rs 4,300 crore amid plans to trim debt

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Vedanta subsidiary Finsider International has accepted a proposal from one of its banks to sell 2.6 percent shareholding worth Rs 4,379.7 crore, in the mining conglomerate to a group of reputed institutional investors, a spokesperson from parent company Vedanta Resources said in a statement on June 26.

"This is in line with the group's commitment to significantly deleverage its balance sheet at both the India and the VRL level and in line with broader initiatives to support its strategic growth plans," the spokesperson added.

As of March 31, 2024, the company's outstanding shares were 3.71 billion. A stake sale of 2.6% amounts to 96.46 million shares. Based on the company's last closing price on June 25, the total value of the shares for sale would be approximately Rs 4,379.7 crore.

Post repayments made from the transaction, VRL would have reduced its debt by upwards of $650 million since the beginning of FY 2025, according to the statement.

The stake sale in Vedanta Ltd comes days after group Chairman Anil Agarwal said that the promoters wouldn't dilute any more equity in the company. In another instance, parent firm Vedanta Resources denied a report to sell shareholding.

At the end of March, Vedanta's promoters held 61.95 percent equity stake in the company. Since December 2022, the promoter stake in Vedanta has fallen from just about 70 percent.

Parent entity Vedanta Resources is looking to reduce its debt by $3 billion over next three years. The debt on Vedanta Resources' books stands at $6 billion as of FY24. This is after the resources giant has pared the debt by $3.7 billion over the previous two years.