Anil Agarwal, billionaire, executive chairman and controlling shareholder of mining company Vedanta Resources has launched a bid to take full control of the business that may result in it 'ditching' its London listing on the stock exchange.
Agarwal who transformed Vedanta from a scrap metal company that he started in 1973 to a multibillion pound business, has reportedly offered to pay shareholders £778mn for the 33.5% stake in the miner that he currently does not own.
It has been gathered that he intends to purchase the shares through Volcan Investments, a company owned by his family trust. The 825p per share offer is a 28pc premium to the FTSE 250 company's share price before news of the deal broke, according to The Daily Telegraph. It sent Vedanta's share price up by 26pc to 818p.
Vedanta produces commoditoes lile oil, zinc, iron ore and copper on India and Africa. He has already brought together several parts of the business under one umbrella. Vedanta's board has supported the offer, which wiill now be subject to a shareholder's vote. It is also believed this has come after a widespread protest broke out in Tamil Nadu, India, after the police shot into a group of protesters.
However The Economic Times reported on July 3rd that A fissure has emerged in the unified pressure groups that brought tens of thousands together in protest against the Vedanta Sterlite factory at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu.
Fishermen have claimed they have been “brainwashed” into picketing the district collector’s office in a demonstration against the copper smelter that led to police firing on the crowd, resulting in the death of 13 people.
The Left-leaning Makkal Adhikaram (People Power), which had stood against other big-ticket project such as the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, has denied the charge of having influenced the fishermen into taking up aggressive methods of demonstrations.
