Cairn Energy Plc on Thursday said it would sell 40 per cent stake in Cairn India to Vedanta Resources for Rs 30,811 crore, leading to a transfer of majority stake to the Anil Agarwal-promoted company. If the government clears the deal, Vedanta will have a 58.5 per cent stake in Cairn India. However, Cairn Plc will continue to retain a significant stake of 21.7 per cent in its Indian subsidiary, said a company announcement.
Sesa Goa, a Vedanta Resources company has already acquired 18.5 per cent stake in Cairn India — 10.4 per cent — in a block deal from Petronas (at Rs 331 per share) and 8.1 per cent through the open offer (at Rs 355 per share) that ended on April 30. Vedanta paid Rs 6,547 crore to Petronas and spent Rs 5,502 crore in the open offer. Vedanta will pay another Rs 30,811 crore to Cairn Energy for a 40 per cent stake.
Last August, Cairn Plc had announced it would sell 40-51 per cent stake in Cairn India to Vedanta depending on the response of the open offer. The only difference is the price that Vedanta paid to Cairn India shareholders, and the non-compete fee of Rs 50 per cent to Cairn Energy.
The same month, Vedanta had announced plan to buy up to 60 per cent stake in Cairn India for $9.6 billion. The deal, the government insists, requires its approval as it involves scarce natural resources. The cabinet that was supposed to take a decision on the deal chose to refer it to a group of ministers last month. The petroleum ministry had circulated a cabinet note on the deal that presented a choice between, conditional clearance and absolute clearance, while leaving legal recourse open to both Cairn India and its partner ONGC.