Vedanta Promoter in Negotiations with GQG Partners for a $1 Billion Stake Sale, Says Reports

15 Feb 2024 , 10:37 AM

According to reports, Vedanta Ltd’s promoter is in discussions to sell a portion of the mining company to Rajiv Jain-led GQG Partners in a $1 billion transaction.

The conclusive discussions for a possible stake sale have concluded, and the transaction is expected to be finalized in the coming days through a block deal, as suggested by reports.

As of the end of December, the promoters and group entities owned 63.71% of Vedanta Ltd.

GQG Partners gained prominence on Dalal Street a year ago after the global investment company took a counter bet on Adani Group and purchased stocks in four firms for ₹15,000 Crore, following a large sell-off prompted by US-based Hindenburg Research’s bombshell report on the group.

The share sale is part of Anil Agarwal’s mining company’s efforts to obtain funds to pay off debt. Vedanta has a combined net debt of ₹62,493 Crore ($7.5 billion) at the end of December.

The billion-dollar share sale will take place in block deals, reducing parent-level debt by one-third and sending a message to the market that Vedanta’s founders are serious about managing their debt and are willing to sell some family silver.

Vedanta Resources, the parent company, announced last week that it made an advance payment of $779 million to bondholders and had completed payments as part of the debt restructuring process. 

The repayment follows the global mining major’s earlier this year approval to extend the maturities of $3.2 billion notes until 2029.

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