Vedanta Ltd Shareholders Approve Cairn India Merger
September 09 2016 - 9:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Alex MacDonald and Ian Walker
LONDON--Vedanta Ltd.'s (500295.BY) merger with Cairn India Ltd.
(532792.BY) moved a step closer toward completion on Friday after
shareholders of the Mumbai-listed company gave the deal the green
light at a general meeting.
Investors holding 97.84% of the company's total voting capital
backed the merger. The deal still needs to be approved by Cairn
India shareholders at a meeting to be held on Sept. 12.
The agreement, announced more than a year ago, aims to merge the
Indian operating unit of billionaire Anil Agarwal's U.K.-listed
Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN) with its majority-owned oil and gas
firm Cairn India. Vedanta Resources already owns a near 60% stake
in Cairn India and close to 63% of Vedanta Ltd.
The deal, however, had a lukewarm response from some of Cairn
India's largest minority shareholders who hold sway over any
vote.
In an effort to boost shareholder interest, Vedanta Ltd.
sweetened the deal on July 25 by offering one Vedanta share and
four preference shares with a 7.5% annual coupon for each Cairn
India share, up from a previous offer of one share and one
preference share.
The new offer implied a one-fifth premium to Cairn India's
volume-weighted average price over the previous month, up from a
7.3% implied premium to the closing share price before the deal was
announced in June last year.
Vedanta said in July it expects the deal close in the first
quarter of 2017.
"The strategic rationale for merging Vedanta Limited and Cairn
India remains highly compelling," Tom Albanese, chief executive of
Vedanta Resources, said at the time of the revised offer.
And Sudhir Mathur, chief financial officer and acting CEO of
Cairn India, said: "We are confident that the financial strength
and diversified portfolio of [Vedanta's] Tier-I assets will provide
de-risked earnings and stable cash flows, driving long-term
value."
The revised offer terms have been approved by the boards of both
companies involved in the tie up.
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 09, 2016 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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