Vedanta Resources secures debt refinancing worth $1.25 billion: Report

Earlier on Thursday, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Vedanta Resources Ltd's long-term issuer rating and bonds from "CCC" to "CC" on potential extension of bond maturities

Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL), the parent firm of Vedanta Ltd, has secured $1.25 billion for debt refinancing and new credit facility from private lenders, CNBC-TV18 reported on Thursday. The fundraising would create a long-term capital structure for the company.

The report further said that VRL has also started talks to extend its debt maturity profile by allowing the extension of maturity dates with its bondholders. The loan will mature in April 2026.

Earlier on Thursday, Standard and Poor's (S&P) Global Ratings downgraded Vedanta Resources Ltd's long-term issuer rating and bonds from "CCC" to "CC" on a potential transaction involving the extension of the maturities of three dollar-denominated bonds amounting to $3.2 billion. "CC" indicates a highly vulnerable status.

"We view Vedanta Resources' proposed liability management exercise involving three of its US dollar-denominated bonds totalling $3.2 billion as a distressed transaction under our criteria", S&P said in a statement.

The company's bonds are due in January 2024, August 2024, and March 2025. Now, the company intends to address the three bond maturities using a mix of cash and new bonds. Accordingly, it will exchange about half of the January 2024 bond with new bonds maturing in January 2027 and most of the August 2024 and March 2025 bonds with new amortizing bonds maturing in December 2028.

On Wednesday, the company also announced that its board will meet on December 18 to approve the second interim dividend, if any, for 2023-24. The record date for the dividend has been fixed at December 27.

As of 10:25 am on Thursday, Vedanta Ltd's shares were trading 0.26 per cent in the red at Rs 252.55 apiece on BSE.