Vedanta Resources to issue $400 million notes to Oaktree Capital

A unit of Vedanta Resources will issue $400 million in notes to an entity under Oaktree Capital Group, as the mining conglomerate looks to meet liquidity needs.
 

The notes will be partly secured by shares in Mumbai-listed unit Vedanta Ltd., according to separate exchange filings from Vedanta and the U.S. hedge fund.

India’s macroeconomic troubles have attracted a wave of global investors betting they can eke out profits from the rising number of capital-starved businesses struggling to stay afloat. Some global heavyweights including Oaktree and Apollo Global Management Inc. have either struck recent India deals or scaled up their teams in the country in a push to invest in distressed assets.

The new deal with Oaktree comes after Vedanta Resources sold $1 billion of securities earlier this month, at one of the highest yields for a dollar bond in Asia this year. That debt issuance was to fund a tender offer for securities due 2021.

The holding company, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, aims to simplify the group’s corporate structure and ease Vendata Resources’ access to cash after a failed attempt to delist Vedanta Ltd. in October.

Elsewhere in India, Oaktree is bidding for shadow lender Dewan Housing Finance Corp., which was seized by the central bank last year. Read more about that here.