Vedanta to pay $932 million in dividend to help parent cut debt

Indian tycoon Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd. approved a third tranche of dividend payout, its latest effort to improve the financial position of its indebted London-based mining parent.

The Mumbai-based miner will pay an additional 78.21 billion rupees ($932 million) dividend, according to a statement to exchanges. This takes its total payout for the year ending March to 134.75 billion rupees.

Vedanta Resources, which has been burdened by a heavy debt load amassed due to a string of acquisitions, reduced its dues by $4.5 billion in the last two years. It seeks to further repay $3 billion over the next three years with an eye on improving its liquidity.

As a result of the measures, S&P Global Ratings upgraded the firm’s rating in July saying the company had adequate internal funds to meet debt maturities due by end-2025.

The date for the dividend payment has been set to Sept. 10.

The group is also splitting Indian unit Vedanta Ltd. into six listed companies giving investors direct exposure to a business of their choice and in turn improve the value of the group’s component parts.

(By Rakesh Sharma)