'Vedanta promoters to maintain 50% stake in each of demerged entities': Anil Agarwal
Vedanta Ltd's promoters will maintain over 50% stake in each of its demerged entities, as the focus remains on creating pure-play companies which will be better placed to capitalise opportunities, the group's chairman said.
The mining conglomerate is looking to demerge its businesses — aluminium, oil & gas, power and steel- as separate entities. At present, these businesses are subsumed within Vedanta Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Resources.
«We realised that most of our businesses are sitting under a large banyan tree structure, that is Vedanta. It is better to take them out and allow them to grow in the sun,» Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal told ET during an interaction. There is no need for a stake sale for cutting debt at the holding company level, he said. «We are very comfortable with our shareholding levels and have no plans to pare down our promoter stake in any way. Equally, we have no plans to increase our stake in any of the companies that will be demerged,» he said, explaining that the company is sufficiently funded to manage affairs through internal accruals. But it is open to selling the steel business if a «right price» is offered.
Vedanta Resources held a 56.38% stake in Vedanta Ltd at the end of the December quarter. The demerged entities will mirror this shareholding pattern.
The promoters have reduced their stake in Vedanta Ltd from nearly 70% two years ago and used much of the proceeds to ease their debt burden. Vedanta Resources currently has more than $5 billion in