Vedanta is set to sell 11 crore shares, or its 2.6% holding of Hindustan Zinc, via an offer for sale (OFS), billionaire Anil Agarwal-led mining major, said in an exchange filing on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.

“…Committee… has approved the sale of up to 11,00,00,000 equity shares of Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), representing 2.60% of the issued and paid-up equity share capital of HZL, by way of an offer for sale through the stock exchange mechanism,” the filing said.

Hindustan Zinc shares ended at ₹586 apiece, down nearly 4.6% on the NSE in trade today. At the current market price of ₹586, the size of the OFS deal will be ₹6,400 crore. Even at a 10% discount price of ₹527 per share, the OFS will be at ₹5,801.4 crore.

At the end of the June quarter, Vedanta held a 64.92% stake in Hindustan Zinc, most of which is pledged. Vedanta recently offloaded around 4% of the pledged holding by using proceeds from its institutional share sale. The government owns a 29.54% stake in the Vedanta-owned company.

In an August 7 CNBC-TV18 report, the government is reassessing plans for an OFS in Hindustan Zinc and is planning on divesting its stake in tranches.

The government had earlier targeted selling part of its stake in Hindustan Zinc before the end of the financial year 2023 but was not able to do so due to various litigations, the report said.

As per SEBI regulations, Vedanta cannot buy more than a third of the shares in the Hindustan Zinc OFS, it added.

Vedanta results

Meanwhile, Vedanta’s Q1FY25 revenue went up by 6% from last year to ₹35,764 crore, while its Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 55% from last year to ₹9,945 crore. But, Vedanta’s net profit for the period fell 5% to ₹3,150 crore.

Vedanta share price settled at ₹424.95 apiece, down 1.65% in trade today on the NSE.