Vedanta moved one step closer to delisting from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, as well as the New York Stock Exchange with the company’s shareholders approving the same.
While 93.342% of the votes were in favour of the proposal to delist, and 6.658% of votes were against the proposal. For the proposal to get approval, it required the approval of 66.7% of the minority shareholders.
In May, Vedanta Resources and promoter group companies moved a proposal to delist Vedanta Ltd to simplify the group structure.
In a stock exchange filing, Vedanta has made a delisting offer for Vedanta Ltd (VEDL), where it holds 50.1% effective stake, by acquiring the equity shares held by public shareholders in accordance with the SEBI Delisting Regulations.
Through a postal ballot, Vedanta had sought shareholders' nod to delist after Vedanta offered to buyout 49.9% of public shareholding at a price of Rs 87.5 per share.
Commenting on the offer, Anil Agarwal, Chairman of the Vedanta Group, had earlier said, "This proposed transaction is fully aligned with the robust strategy which has been pursued over the years. Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have accelerated the strategy in this challenging environment to ensure support for meaningful deleveraging and to enable us to continue to invest in the growth of the business.
Vedanta officials then said would be best positioned to weather the risks presented by the current environment as a private company. Perception caused by volatility in the share price (which is driven by relatively low traded volumes) is impacting the company's access to capital markets and there has been downward pressure on the stock in recent times.
"We see an opportunity to reach an outcome that benefits all stakeholders, including equity and debt investors and the Group itself. That outcome must, however, recognise the financial constraints under which the Group is operating," officials said, underscoring the financial position.
The Business Standard reported that the company will not have to launch a reverse book building process, under which bidding from shareholders can take place at any price. Based on this, the promoters can either accept the price, or make an offer — and if the offer is accepted, then delisting would be successful.
With inputs from agencies