A day after agreeing to sell majority stake in its India subsidiary for $8.48 billion, U.K.’s Cairn Energy Plc top management today met Oil Minister Murli Deora and other key officials to clear any regulatory roadblocks to the deal with Vedanta Resources.
Cairn Energy Plc Chief Executive Bill Gammell flew into the national capital this morning and got down to business, meeting government officials and Cairn India staff to clear doubts, if any, about the deal.
Sources close to the development said Gammell, flanked by Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir met Deora and Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan to explain the rational of the deal.
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“It will be business as usual at Cairn India,” a source quoted Gammell as telling Deora. Billionaire Anil Agarwal-run Vedanta Resources, which is buying up to 60 per cent in Cairn India (40-51 per cent from Cairn Energy and rest through a public offer), is neither changing the name nor the team that runs the company.
Only the corporate structure of Cairn India is undergoing a change, he is believed to have told Deora and Sundareshan.
Cairn Energy did not seek a buyer, but it was Agarwal who in early July called Gammell directly seeking a meeting. The two met in Edingurgh where Agarwal made the offer. As per U.K. listing requirement, Cairn Energy took the takeover offer to its board, which accepted it.
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At the centre of the deal is the giant Rajasthan block, which has the potential to produce 240,000 barrels of oil per day, equivalent to 12 million tons of crude oil produced by ONGC from its prime Mumbai High fields.