GQG swoops in on Vedanta: 2.2% stake may have been acquired in ₹2,255 Crore block deal

15 Feb 2024 , 11:32 AM

On February 15, Vedanta Resources' stock dropped on the NSE following block agreements involving the transfer of 8.2 Crore shares. According to an earlier report, Rajiv Jain's investment firm GQG Partners was interested in purchasing a $1 Billion share in the company from the promoters. The stock was trading at ₹277, down 1%, at 9:25 am.

According to market records, block deals involved the transfer of approximately 2.2% stock holding, valued at ₹2,255 Crore, in Vedanta Ltd. 

The announcement of the stake sale coincides with Vedanta's approximately $6.4 Billion in outstanding debt, of which $4.5 Billion is due by the company's fiscal year 2025. As of December 2023, the promoter and related entities owned 63.71% of Vedanta.

GQG Partners, a foreign portfolio investor, has raised its ownership of other Indian enterprises, such as Adani Ports and GMR Airport Infrastructure, during the past year.

On February 14, the Supreme Court announced that it would form a committee to investigate the viability of reopening Vedanta's closed Sterlite copper smelting facility in Tuticorin. Sterlite's parent firm is called Vedanta.

After protests against the plant led in 13 deaths from police shootings, the plant was shut down in 2018. 

The Anil Agarwal-led company reported unchanged sales of ₹33,691 for the third quarter, but a 40.81 % fall in consolidated net profit to ₹2,464 Crore.

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