Vedanta Resources repays $250 mn in loans to Standard Chartered Bank

Mining mogul Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL) has repaid USD 250 million in loans that the company took from Barclays Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, according to regulatory filings.

The company had earlier said it has enough means to meet debt repayment liabilities in the coming quarters as it looked to assuage investor concerns around its financial position.

VRL, the majority owner of Mumbai-listed mining and oil & gas company Vedanta Ltd, repaid USD 150 million borrowed from Barclays Bank.

"The earlier disclosure was made pursuant to facility agreement dated June 16, 2022...between Twin Star Holdings (borrower), VRL and Welter Trading Ltd (as original guarantors), Deutsche Bank AG acting through its Singapore Branch, and Barclays Bank PLC (as original lender), for the purposes of availing facility of an aggregate amount of USD 150,000,000 by the borrower from the original lender," the company said in a filing to BSE.

However, the said facility has been repaid and the encumbrance released, it said.

The company also repaid USD 100 million borrowed from Standard Chartered Bank.

"The earlier disclosure was made pursuant to facility agreement... entered into between Twin Star Holding, VRL and Welter Trading (as original guarantors), Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Ltd (as original lender), and Standard Chartered Bank (as arranger and agent), for the purposes of availing a facility of an aggregate amount of USD 100,000,000. However, the said facility has been repaid and the encumbrance has been released," another regulatory filing said.

Last month, VRL had said it is in the advanced stage of finalisation to tie up USD 1.75 billion through a combination of syndicate loan and bilateral bank facilities.

The company had said it has pre-paid all its debt that was due for repayment till March 2023, deleveraging by USD 2 billion in the past 11 months.

Further, it is confident of meeting its liquidity requirements for the quarter ending June 2023.

Headquartered in London, VRL is a diversified global natural resources company spanning across India, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa.