Vedanta's structural problems behind its failed delisting attempt

The failed delisting of the mining-to-electricity conglomerate is not the first time attempts to restructure Anil Aggarwal's opaque empire have been controversial

Last week, a plan by Vedanta Ltd, to delist from the two Indian stock exchanges failed when shareholders declined to tender shares citing a low strike price. The failure is a setback for the mining-to-electricity conglomerate owned by London-based billionaire Anil Aggarwal to restructure his group’s businesses. But it is not the first time that attempts to reorganise his opaquely structured empire have met with controversy.

With 49 subsidiaries, 15 of which are direct and remaining step-down entities (see chart), Vedanta is an unwieldy array of businesses with overlapping shareholdings that have often been used by the promoters to rescue