Hindustan Zinc shares slumped almost 8% in opening trades on August 16 after Vedanta Ltd opened its offer-for-sale, aimed at selling 3.17% stake in the latter. The OFS will happen between August 16-19. It has a base offer of 1.22%, with a possible expansion to 3.17% in case of oversubscription. The shares are being offered at a floor price of ₹486 each, which translates into a discount of 15% over the previous close of Hindustan Zinc’s stock.
At 09:25 am, the Hindustan Zinc stock at the National Stock Exchange of India was trading at ₹534.75, while Vedanta’s stocks were up nearly 2 percent at ₹427.40.
The OFS was initially announced on August 13 for a stake sale of 2.6 per cent, but it was revised to sell a more significant portion. Vedanta now holds 64.92 per cent in Hindustan Zinc, while the Indian government has 29.54 per cent.
This stake sale is part of Vedanta’s larger plan to handling its massive debt, which was at ₹78,016 crore as of the June quarter. Its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc had a debt of ₹11,178 crore for the same period.
Vedanta has been undertaking various initiatives to deleverage in the last few months. This includes a ₹ 8,500 crore fundraising through QIP and is planning to declare a ₹ 8,000 crore special dividend from Hindustan Zinc. The board will meet for this on August 20. The strategic move comes after Vedanta’s recent call to put the sale of its steel business on hold, reiterating this company’s commitment to paring down its debt.
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Source: Moneycontrol
News Desk
