Anil Agarwal given more time to make firm offer for Vedanta Resources

Britain's Takeover Panel has granted an extension to Aug 6 to facilitate financing talks between Volcan and its lenders

Billionaire Anil Agarwal has been given more time to make a firm offer or walk away from a deal to buy out minority shareholders in Vedanta Resources for 778 million pounds ($1 billion), the London-listed miner said on Monday.

Agarwal's vehicle Volcan Investments had faced a deadline of 1700 London time (1600 GMT) to declare its intentions towards Vedanta but British regulator the Takeover Panel has granted an extension to August 6 to facilitate financing talks between Volcan and its lenders over its all-cash bid, the miner said.  

It comes after Volcan said on July 2 that it planned to offer minority shareholders 825 pence a share to acquire the 33.5 per cent of Vedanta that it does not already own and delist the group.   

($1 = 0.7613 pounds)