The investment is expected to give 12-13% stake in Anglo American to Anil Agarwal, making him the second-largest shareholder after South Africa’s Public Investment.
Agarwal will make the investment via his family trust Valcon Investments, which is a majority shareholder in Vedanta Resources. But Vedanta will not participate in the transaction.
Agarwal said: “This is an attractive investment for our family trust. Anglo American is a great company with excellent assets and a strong board and management team who are executing a focused strategy to drive shareholder value. ”
Vedanta said it will continue to focus on strategic priorities, including ramping up production from low cost assets, increasing its free cash flow, and optimizing and deleveraging its balance sheet.
Agarwal plans to finance the potential deal via a mandatory exchangeable bond issued by his holding company, Volcan Investments, as well as secured by Anglo’s shares, reported Bloomberg.
Anglo American has assets including copper mines in Chile, iron ore operations in Brazil and South Africa. It is also the owner of De Beers, the diamond exploration, mining and marketing company.
In 2016, Anglo American was said to have rejected Agarwal’s proposal to merge with Hindustan Zinc. Agarwal, through Vedanta, has a majority stake in Hindustan Zinc.
