According to persons with knowledge of the situation, Vedanta Ltd., the Indian commodities tycoon Anil Agarwal’s company, is thinking of selling shares as soon as the upcoming weeks, with the potential to generate up to 85 billion rupees ($1 billion).
According to the people, Vedanta is collaborating on the offering with advisers such as Citigroup Inc. and Axis Capital, a unit of Axis Bank Ltd. The persons, who wished to remain secret due to the confidentiality of the information, said that it has begun to gauge interest from possible investors, including Middle Eastern funds.
With a 78% increase in shares this year, Vedanta now has a market value of over $20.5 billion. Tuesday morning saw a 2.7% increase in the stock before profits were cut.
If shareholders give their approval, Vedanta may raise the money through a kind of share sale called a qualified institutional placement, according to the sources. The timing of the deal could alter, but it is being discussed whether to start it soon in order to capitalize on the Indian equities surge, according to the people. The last seven months have seen an approximately 20% increase in the BSE Sensex.
There’s no guarantee that Vedanta will move forward with a deal, and the specifics of the possible fundraising could alter.
A representative for Citi declined to comment. Email requests for comments were not immediately answered by Vedanta or Axis Bank.