2nd Oct 2006 07:02
Vedanta Resources PLC02 October 2006 Vedanta Resources plc 16 Berkeley Street London W1J 8DZ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7499 5900 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7491 8440 www.vedantaresources.com 2 October 2006 VEDANTA RESOURCES PLC ANNOUNCES SUCCESSFUL ACQUISITION OF STERLITE GOLD LTD. AND EXTENSION OF OFFER Vedanta Resources plc ("Vedanta") announced today that it has been successful inits bid to acquire Sterlite Gold Ltd. (TSX: SGD) ("Sterlite Gold") under itsoffer (the "Offer") dated August 25, 2006, made through Twin Star InternationalLimited ("TSI"), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Vedanta, for all of theoutstanding common shares of Sterlite Gold not already owned by TSI or itsaffiliates, excluding those common shares held by U.S. shareholders, on thebasis of C$0.258 in cash per common share. As of September 30, 2006, a total of67,553,844 common shares of Sterlite Gold were deposited under the Offer,representing approximately 56.64% of the outstanding common shares of SterliteGold (on a fully-diluted basis). All of the conditions to the Offer have been satisfied or waived and TSI hastaken up all of the Sterlite Gold common shares validly deposited and notvalidly withdrawn under the Offer. Payment for such common shares will be madeon or before October 4, 2006. After giving effect to the take up of commonshares by TSI under the Offer and together with the common shares already ownedby TSI, Vedanta holds, through TSI, a total of 213,593,502 common shares ofSterlite Gold, representing approximately 80.51% of the outstanding commonshares of Sterlite Gold (on a fully-diluted basis). Vedanta is extending its Offer to allow time for the remaining Sterlite Goldshareholders to tender their common shares to the Offer and to allow time forthe satisfaction of certain applicable United States regulatory requirements inorder to permit Vedanta to extend the Offer to Sterlite Gold shareholders in theUnited States. The Offer, as extended, will now expire at 5:00 p.m. (Torontotime) on October 31, 2006, unless further extended. A notice of extension willpromptly be mailed to those Sterlite Gold shareholders to whom the Offer toPurchase and Circular was originally sent. Subject to applicable securitieslaws, any common shares subsequently validly deposited to the Offer must betaken-up and paid for by TSI within ten days of the deposit of such commonshares. Vedanta, through TSI, may acquire the remaining Sterlite Gold commonshares not deposited to the Offer by compulsory acquisition or other subsequentacquisition transaction. Sterlite Gold shareholders are advised to read the Notice of Extension, theOffer to Purchase and Circular, the Directors' Circular and related documentswhich have been filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities asthey contain important information. Shareholders may obtain a copy of thematerials at SEDAR from www.sedar.com. Further information regarding Vedanta Resources plc or Twin Star InternationalLimited can be obtained by contacting: Sumanth Cidambi [email protected] Associate Director - Investor Tel: +44 20 7659 4732 / +91 22 6646 1531Relations Vedanta Resources plc Faeth Birch Robin Walker Finsbury Tel: +44 20 7251 3801 About Vedanta Resources plc Vedanta Resources plc is a FTSE 100 diversified metals and mining group. Itsprincipal operations are located throughout India, with further operations inZambia and Australia. The major metals produced are aluminium, copper, zinc andlead. For further information, please visit www.vedantaresources.com. Disclaimer The Sterlite Gold Offer is not being, and will not be, made in any jurisdictionwhere not permitted by law. This communication shall not constitute an offer tosell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be, any sale ofsecurities in any jurisdiction in which the Sterlite Gold Offer, solicitation orsale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under thesecurities laws of any such jurisdiction. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statementsrelated to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statementsoften address our expected future business and financial performance, and oftencontain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,""seeks," "should" or "will." This information is based upon certain materialfactors and assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making aforecast or projection as reflected in the forward-looking statements, includingthat the Sterlite Gold Offer will be made to United States shareholders. Sinceforward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future eventsand conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks anduncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, our financialcondition and prospects, could differ materially from those currentlyanticipated in such statements by reason of factors such as the behaviour offinancial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuationsin interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration ofacquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional andglobal scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive orregulatory nature. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affectany of our forward-looking statements contained in this release. These and otherfactors should be considered carefully and readers should not place unduereliance on our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update ourforward-looking statements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Vedanta Resources