CORPORATE

Vedanta Resources readying $10-bn fund to bid for BPCL and other govt companies

Mining company Vedanta Resources planned to create a $10-billion fund to bid for assets, including the government’s stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) its chairman told the Reuters on Thursday. 


The government is seeking to privatise State-run refiner BPCL by selling its near 53 per cent stake in the company worth just over $6 billion to private entities. 


“We are in the process of creating a fund of $10 billion,” Anil Agarwal said in an interview in Dubai. “It will not only look at (BPCL), but there are other companies being privatised. It will look at the potential of those companies 


The fund would be made up of its own resources and outside investment, Agarwal said, adding that it might also finance the BPCL acquisition through debt. 


“We will work out a structure, we are doing the due diligence”" he said. “As soon as the date comes, we will firm up and work out on how we take the money and go about it.” 


“There is no large fund which does not want to associate with us in general. Money will never be a problem,” he added. 


London-headquartered Vedanta Resources, founded by MrAgarwal in 2003, has grown its annual revenues from $1 million to over $15 billion in the past decade. 


As well as its operations in India, the group has mining interests in South Africa and a precious metal refinery and copper rod plant in the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah Free Zone. 

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