Vedanta to delist American depositary shares, focus trading on BSE, NSE

Mining giant Vedanta on Thursday said it will delist its American depositary shares and concentrate all trading of its equity shares on the BSE and NSE.

"Vedanta Ltd announces its intention to delist ('Delisting') its American depositary shares (ADSs) representing its equity shares from the NYSE and to terminate its ADS program.

"The company also intends to deregister such ADSs and the underlying equity shares and terminate the reporting obligations pursuant to the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended...upon satisfying the relevant criteria," Vedanta Ltd said in a filing to BSE.

Upon delisting of its ADS program, the company will concentrate all trading of its equity shares on BSE Ltd and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd in India (NSE), the filing said.

The company's board of directors has taken into account the recent low trading volume of its ADS on the NYSE and the associated costs of maintaining the listing and related obligations.

"The company intends to file a Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on or about October 29, 2021 to delist its ADSs from the NYSE," it said.

The delisting is expected to become effective 10 days thereafter, at which time the ADS of the company will no longer be listed for trading on the NYSE.

"Once the delisting has become effective and the criteria for deregistration have been satisfied, the company intends to submit a Form 15F with the SEC to deregister the ADSs and the underlying equity shares pursuant to the Exchange Act.

"Thereafter, all the Company's reporting obligations under the Exchange Act will be suspended unless the Form 15F is subsequently withdrawn or denied," the filing said.

Deregistration with the SEC and termination of the company's reporting obligations under the Exchange Act are expected to become effective 90 days after its filing of Form 15F with the SEC.

Before the Form 15F effective date and once the form is filed, the company will publish the information on its website, it said.

The company said it intends to terminate its ADS program and the corresponding deposit agreement pursuant to which the program is maintained.

"In accordance with the deposit agreement, Citibank, N.A. will provide a notice of termination to all ADS holders containing the relevant information for ADS holders to take various suggested actions. The ADS program will terminate 31 days after Citibank, N.A. delivers formal notice of the termination of the deposit agreement to ADS holders," it said.

Any time after 30 days have elapsed following the termination of the deposit agreement -- on or about November 8, 2021 -- which is expected to be on or about December 9, 2021, Citibank N.A. may sell the equity shares of the company underlying any ADS that remain then-outstanding in accordance with the deposit agreement, it said.