MUMBAI, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The Board of Directors of Vedanta Limited's (Vedanta) wholly
owned subsidiary, Cairn India holdings Limited (CIHL), have
approved an investment of c.US$158
million (the Acquisition) in Japanese manufacturer for LCD
glass substrate, AvanStrate Inc. (ASI), currently majority owned by
the Carlyle Group.
The transaction consists of three elements:
- an acquisition of c.US$151
million in existing ASI debt with face value of
c.US$299 million from banks;
- an acquisition of just over 51% of the equity stake of ASI for
a nominal consideration from the Carlyle Group; and
- extension of a c.US$7million loan
to ASI.
Through a combination of these elements, this transaction
provides both strategic control and attractive returns to CIHL.
Completion of the Acquisition is conditional on consents being
obtained from ASI's existing lenders and is expected to occur prior
to 31 December 2017.
ASI is a leading global manufacturer of glass substrates for
small and medium sized high resolution thin film transistor liquid
crystal display (TFT LCD) panels, which are used in screens for
devices including smartphones, satellite navigation systems in
vehicles, cameras, flat screen televisions, tablets and laptop
personal computers. Glass substrate is made of silicon and metallic
oxides, including aluminium oxides.
Further to Vedanta's focus on providing basic materials for the
development of India and other
emerging markets, this transaction provides optionality to the
growing market of materials for technology applications. ASI is
particularly focused on supplying glass substrate to small and
medium sized TFT LCD panels, used in many mobile devices, and
India has significant market
potential for such devices.
ASI was founded in Japan, where
its corporate headquarters and research and development function
are also based. ASI also has operations in Korea and
Taiwan. Hideki Horiuchi is the CEO of ASI. The company
employs around 710 people and in the financial year ended
31 March 2017 the company had
revenues of c.US$169million, EBITDA
of c.US$75million and gross assets of
c.US$625million. The consolidated net
profit of ASI for the financial year ended 31 March 2017 was c.US$1.4
million, which on a proportionate basis, for the c.51%
equity stake being acquired, would imply an attributable net profit
of c.US$0.7 million.
NOMURA has acted as the financial advisor to CIHL on this
transaction.
About Vedanta Limited
Vedanta Limited is a diversified natural resources company,
whose business primarily involves producing oil & gas, zinc -
lead - silver, copper, iron ore, aluminium and commercial power.
The company has a presence across India, South
Africa, Namibia,
Australia and Ireland.
Vedanta Limited is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources
Plc, a London-listed company.
Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's
strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and
on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company is
conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
'Sustainable Plus Platinum label', ranking among the top 10 most
sustainable companies in India. To
access the Vedanta Sustainable Development Report 2017, please
visit
http://sd.vedantaresources.com/SustainableDevelopment2016-17/.
Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the
National Stock Exchange in India
and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
For more information please visit
http://www.vedantalimited.com.
For further information, please contact:
Communications
Arun Arora
Head, Corporate Communications
Tel: +91-124-459-3000
gc@vedanta.co.in
Investor Relations
Ashwin Bajaj
Director – Investor Relations
Tel: +91-22-6646-1531
vedantaltd.ir@vedanta.co.in
Aarti Raghavan
VP – Investor Relations
Sneha Tulsyan
Associate Manager – Investor Relations
Vedanta Limited
Vedanta, 75, Nehru Road,
Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400
099
http://www.vedantalimited.com
Registered Office:
Regd. Office: 1st Floor, 'C' wing,
Unit 103,
Corporate Avenue, Atul Projects,
Chakala, Andheri (East),
Mumbai – 400 093
CIN: L13209MH1965PLC291394
Disclaimer
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" – that
is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this
context, forward-looking statements often address our expected
future business and financial performance, and often contain words
such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"seeks," "should" or "will." Forward–looking statements by their
nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain.
For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and
metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in
interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future
integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters
of national, regional and global scale, including those of a
political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature.
These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be
materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking
statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements.