Billionaire Anil Agarwal-backed Vedanta has pledged 2.44 per cent of its stake in Hindustan Zinc to raise Rs 1,500 crore. With this Vedanta has pledged 91 per cent of its holding in Hindustan Zinc.
Vedanta has pledged 10.32 crore shares through Axis Trustee Services as facility agent, the company said in a statement, newspaper The Hindu BusinessLine reported.
Vedanta has raised Rs 39,000 crore by pledging 59.31 per cent stake in the company.
Vedanta plans to use the proceeds of this for general corporate purposes including repayment of existing debt, capital expenditures and operating expenses. The company has entered into a term loan agreement under which one of the security cover includes pledging shares of Hindustan Zinc.
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Hindustan Zinc is the largest and only integrated producer of zinc, lead and silver in the country. It operates the world's largest underground zinc mining operation at its Rampura Agucha mine in Udaipur.
Hindustan Zinc’s operations comprise lead-zinc mines, hydrometallurgical zinc smelters, lead smelters, pyro metallurgical lead-zinc smelter as well as sulphuric acid and captive power plants in northwest India. Total metal production capacity is 1.123 million tonnes.
The government, which has stake in Hindustan Zinc, recently opposed to Hindustan Zinc's proposed $2.98 billion acquisition of zinc assets from Vedanta as the Rajasthan-based company has long been a cash cow for oil-to-metals conglomerate, squeezing out rich dividends.
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Shares of Hindustan Zinc traded 1.2 per cent lower at Rs 323, undeperforming the Sensex which was trading on a flat note.
