Working with a clear strategy, Sesa Goa, a Vedanta Group company, on Tuesday acquired 10.42 per cent stake in Cairn India through open market.
“Considering the shareholding structure of Petronas, we wanted to be sure that we will be able to get the required stake.
“So, the company decided to buy Petronas stake through the open market,” Mr P.K. Mukherjee, Managing Director of Sesa Goa, told
However, he clarified that this additional stake buy has nothing to do with the open offer. “We cannot comment on the results of the open offer (which closes on April 30). But, presuming we include this stake buy into it then we still require about 9.6 per cent more to get 20 per cent.”
According to the Cairn Energy-Vedanta Resources deal, Sesa Goa would acquire a 40 per cent stake from Cairn Energy Plc for $6.65 billion and make an open offer to acquire another 20 per cent from Cairn India's other stockholders.
On open offer
Asked why Sesa Goa has issued a note to the stock exchange on Tuesday stating that the open offer is not subject to the Government consent, a stand different from its earlier position, he said, “We were asked by SEBI to clarify this point, as lot of investor queries were coming on the same.”
In a statement Vedanta said that “After obtaining all the necessary Government approvals and consents, Vedanta looks forward to the successful completion of the Cairn India acquisition and would own between 51-70.4 per cent of Cairn India.”