Vedanta mandates Barclays to raise Rs 1,500 crore loan to repay debt, corporate purposes

Vedanta Limited has reportedly asked Barclays Bank Plc to syndicate a Rs 1,500 crore loan that it will use to repay existing debt among other things. The loan will be used for certain business purposes such as repayment of existing debt, capex, general corporate purposes as well as related expenses.

According to The Economic Times, the loan will have a first exclusive charge over the fixed assets of Vedanta’s Tuticorin plant in Tamil Nadu and an exclusive pledge over Hindustan Zinc shares.

Vedanta and Barclays are yet to make a statement on the loan.

This development comes after media reports on Vedanta’s talks with US-based Farallon Capital Management to raise at least $1 billion. The structure of the fundraising hasn’t been finalised, and discussions are ongoing.

Apart from Barclays, Vedanta was also said to be in talks with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Standard Chartered Plc for a syndicated dollar-denominated loan.

Meanwhile, there were reports of Chairman Anil Agarwal weighing selling less than 5 per cent stake in Vedanta, which the company said was ‘untrue and baseless’.

Vedanta board on Thursday approved issuance of non-convertible debentures worth up to Rs 2,100 crore on a private placement basis.

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