Vedanta sounds out debt holders about extending maturities on dollar bonds

VEDANTA Resources has sounded out debt holders about the possibility of extending maturities on some of its dollar bonds to reduce refinancing pressures, said Bloomberg News citing people familiar with the matter.

The approach to investors has been made in the wake of its failed attempt to delist its India unit, Vedanta Limited. The delisting would have enabled Vedanta Resources to more easily access cash held in its business unit.

The company’s $670m of bonds due June next year, which are among notes under discussion with holders, slumped as much as 7.7 cents after the news. That left them set for the sharpest daily drop in more than six weeks, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.

That’s triggered credit rating firms about Vedanta Resources’ debt pile, said the newswire.

Vedanta’s businesses include zinc, aluminium and oil and gas. Those commodities were hit by a slump in demand amid the pandemic earlier this year, though prices have since rebounded.

The company’s subsidiary, Vedanta Zinc International, operates the 250,000 tons a year Gamsberg zinc mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape province.