Vedanta shares in focus as demerger uncertainties persist; Government maintains objection

Shares of Vedanta Ltd., the Anil Agarwal-owned mining conglomerate will be in focus on Thursday, November 13, after the National Company Law Tribunal concluded hearing arguments with regards to the company's demerger petition.

The judgment was reserved after market hours on Wednesday. During the brief hearing, the government renewed its opposition to the demerger petition, claiming that Vedanta is liable to pay ₹16,700 crore to them.

In its argument, the government stated that pre-demerger, Vedanta's asset base of over ₹2 lakh crore gave enough protection to their claims. However, the post-demerger Oil & Gas business will have assets worth just ₹29,000 crore. In response, Vedanta stated that the claims are 1.8x the asset base of the oil & gas business.

Additionally, the government also argued that Vedanta has not disclosed claims that are currently being fought over in arbitration, which could make the company liable to pay anywhere between $222 million to $1 billion. Vedanta countered that argument by stating that they are not required to recognize or disclose a claim until its confirmed in court.

After reserving its judgment, the NCLT did not provide any clarity on when the next hearing would be held.

"The Mumbai Bench of the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) today completed hearings on the Vedanta demerger scheme and the MoPNG application and has reserved the matter for orders. Vedanta remains committed to the proposed demerger, which aims to create independent, sector-specific entities across aluminium, oil and gas, power, and iron and steel," a Vedanta spokesperson stated.

As per the latest shareholding pattern, Vedanta has over 20 lakh retail shareholders, who together own 11.4% stake in the company.

Shares of Vedanta ended 0.5% lower on Wednesday at ₹521. The stock now has a market capitalization of over ₹2 lakh crore, and has gained 9% in the last one month.