Government to Deny Vedanta Access to Zinc Assets

New Delhi: Hindustan Zinc's proposed acquisition of zinc assets from Vedanta has been given the nod by their company board, yet most minority shareholders are highly unlikely to support the deal. This remains true regardless of their shareholding. The government holds a 29.5% stake in HZL, while Vedanta owns 64.9%.

“In a related-party transaction, the promoters must take approval of most of the minority shareholders by law, irrespective of the minority shareholding. Even if Vedanta had a 70% holding in HZL, it will not matter because they will have to sit out during the voting," the official stated.

The government would have been subject to the same rules in the event that it was involved in a related transaction, an official revealed. This means that the proposed $2.98 billion all-cash acquisition would not move forward.