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Ashwin Manikandan/Rakhi MazumdarMumbai/Kolkata: Billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources plc, on Monday, obtained regulatory approval to delist itself from the London Stock Exchange.
The development follows an announcement by Volcan Investments Ltd, an investment trust led by Anil Agarwal last month that it is set to delist Vedanta Resources from the London Stock Exchange on October 1 after a successful buyout of the company's shares.
“Further to the announcement by Volcan Investments on September 3, 2018 that the Offer has become unconditional in all respects, Vedanta confirms that the listing of Vedanta Shares on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and the trading of Vedanta Shares on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange has been cancelled with effect from 8.00 a.m.
today,” the company said on Monday.
Volcan, controlled by Agarwal as executive chairman, already owned nearly 67% in Vedanta Resources when it made the announcement to acquire 33.5% of the company's stake in July.
Vedanta Resources got listed in London in 2003 in a $644 million offering.
The delisting will narrow the number of listed entities of the group to two - Vedanta Limited and Hindustan Zinc, both listed in India.
Earlier this year, Agarwal had announced his plans to take the company private to simplify the group’s structure, describing the move as a “natural progression” for the company and adding that it no longer sees the London listing as necessary to access capital.
The delisting happens amidst public scrutiny against the company for its alleged flouting of environmental norms and regulations in its industrial units.
The project faced protests from the local population, which opposed the smelter expansion because of environmental concerns.
In May this year, 13 people were killed when a protest against Vedanta’s copper plant in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu turned violent and the police opened fire at the protestors.
Following the unrest, on May 29, Vedanta announced that it received an order from the state government for the closure of the unit with immediate effect.
