Sesa Goa's open offer for Cairn India shares by Apr 11

Vedanta Group firm Sesa Goa today said it will come out with open offer by April 11 to acquire up to a 20% additional stake in Cairn India at Rs 355 per share.

The company's decision to go ahead with the open offer is subject to government approval, Sesa Goa said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The $9.6 billion deal, wherein UK-based Vedanta Group entered into an agreement with Cairn Energy Plc for taking an over 51% stake in Cairn India, is expected to be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in the afternoon.

The London-listed mining firm controlled by NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal had channelled the deal through its subsidiary Sesa Goa.

"Sesa Goa is required to launch the open offer by April 11 at a price of Rs 355 per Cairn India share. The acquisition of 51-60% of Cairn India by the Vedanta Group remains conditional on receipt of government of India consents," the filing said.

The company made this announcement following conditional clearance from market regulator Sebi yesterday for the open offer.

The government clearance will pave the way for London-listed mining group Vedanta Resources to enter the oil business through Cairn India, which operates the Mangala oilfield in Rajasthan -- the largest onland domestic oilfield, among others.

Both Cairn Energy and Vedanta have kept a timeline of April 15 to close the transaction, which may have to be extended following the new developments.

The Vedanta Group, soon after announcing the deal to acquire up to 51% stake in Cairn India, had sought Sebi's approval for the mandatory open offer to be made to the public shareholders of the target company.

As per the deal, Sesa Goa would acquire a 40% stake from Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc for $6.65 billion and make an open for to acquire another 20% from Cairn India's other stockholders.