Vedanta shareholders okay Cairn India share buyback

The buyback will be worth Rs 5,725 cr

Mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources Plc said it received 99.89 percentage of votes in favour of a proposed share buyback worth up to Rs 5,725 crore by its oil and gas unit Cairn India Ltd.

London-listed Vedanta held an extraordinary shareholder meet on Monday to approve the buyback.

Cairn India, which announced the buyback in November, said the move would result in a maximum reduction of its equity capital by about 8.9 percent.

The buyback comes against a backdrop of strong cash flows generated by the company. Vedanta, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, acquired a majority stake in Cairn India for almost $9 billion in 2011.

 

Britain's Cairn Energy owns 10.3% of Cairn India but Vedanta said in November the buyback was not aimed at reducing that stake.

Shares in Vedanta, whose request to mine bauxite in Odisha was turned down by the environment ministry last week, were up 0.6% at 877.5 pence on the London Stock Exchange at 1242 GMT.