Cairn India Shareholders Back Tie-Up With Vedanta
September 12 2016 - 11:51AM
Dow Jones News
By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--Cairn India Ltd (532792.BY) said Monday that a majority
of its shareholders voted in favor of a merger with Vedanta Ltd.
(500295.BY), marking the last in a series of votes needed to cement
the tie-up.
The deal needed a simple majority from Cairn India and Vedanta
Ltd.'s minority shareholders and a simple majority from Vedanta
Resources' shareholders, that latter two of which were secured last
week.
The agreement was first announced more than a year ago and aims
to merge the Indian operating unit of 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 now needs approval from India's High Court and other
regulators--expected sometime before the end of March 2017--for the
deal to close.
"The Vedanta Limited-Cairn India merger has been approved by a
significant majority by all sets of shareholders, and I am
confident that the simplified corporate structure will better align
interests between all shareholders for the creation of long-term,
sustainable value," said Mr. Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta
Resources, the parent company of Mumbai-based Vedanta Ltd.
The deal initially met a lukewarm response from some of Cairn
India's largest minority shareholders who held 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.
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 12, 2016 11:36 ET (15:36 GMT)
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