Mining firm Vedanta Resources Ltd. plans to create a $10 billion fund to bid for assets including the Indian government’s stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. (BPCL), its chairman told Reuters.
The Indian government is seeking to privatise state-runrefiner BPCL by selling its almost 53% stake in the firm, worth just more than $6billion, to private entities.
“We are in the process of creating a fund of $10 billion,” Mr. Anil Agarwal said in an interview in Dubai. “It will not only look at (BPCL) but there are other companies being privatised. It will look at the potential of those companies also.”
The fund will be made up of its own resources and outside investment, Mr. Agarwal said, adding that it may also finance the BPCL acquisition through debt.
“We will work out a structure, we are doing the due diligence,” he said. “As soon as the date comes, we will firm up and work out on how we take the money and go about it.”
“There is no large fund which does not want to associate with us in general. Money will never be a problem,” he added.
London-headquartered Vedanta Resources has grown its annual revenue from $1 million to over $15 billion in the past decade.
As well as its operations in India, the group has mining interests in South Africa and a precious metal refinery andcopper rod plant in the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah FreeZone. It is also exploring opportunities for new zinc, gold and magnesium mines in Saudi Arabia.
