15th Aug 2007 12:27
Vedanta Resources PLC15 August 2007 15 August 2007 VEDANTA RESOURCES PLC ANNOUNCES SALE OF CONTROLLING INTEREST IN STERLITE GOLD LTD Vedanta Resources plc ("Vedanta" or "the Vedanta Group") announced today that ithas entered into an agreement to sell its 84.2% interest (the "Sterlite GoldShares") in Sterlite Gold Ltd. (TSX: SGD) ("Sterlite Gold"). Vedanta has agreed to tender its Sterlite Gold Shares to an all-cash offer forSterlite Gold to be made by GeoProMining Ltd. ("GeoProMining"), parent companyof Georgian mining Joint Stock Company Madneuli, at a price of US$0.3845 perSterlite Gold common share (the "Offer"), for a total consideration to Vedantaof $86 million (before expenses). In addition, GeoProMining has agreed that, inconnection with the acquisition, the debt of Sterlite Gold to the Vedanta Groupamounting to approximately $25 million will be repaid. The carrying value ofVedanta's investment in Sterlite Gold was US$83 million at 30 June 2007. The Offer represents a premium for Vedanta's controlling interest in SterliteGold. GeoProMining has agreed to extend its Offer to all shareholders of Sterlite Goldunder the laws of Canada and has placed funds in escrow to allow for thecompletion of the Offer, which is expected to occur by the end of September2007. Vedanta has been advised on the transaction by Ernst & Young LLP and Blake,Cassels & Graydon LLP. For further information, please contact:Sumanth Cidambi [email protected] Director - Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 4732 / +91 22 6646 1531Vedanta Resources plc Faeth Birch Tel: +44 20 7251 3801Robin WalkerFinsbury About Vedanta Resources plc Vedanta Resources plc is a London listed diversified metals and mining group.Its principal operations are located throughout India, with further operationsin Zambia, Australia and Armenia. The major metals produced are aluminium,copper, zinc, lead and gold. For further information, please visitwww.vedantaresources.com. Disclaimer 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." Forward-looking statements by their nature addressmatters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arisefrom the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London MetalExchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; fromfuture integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters ofnational, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic,business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause ouractual future results to be materially different than those expressed in ourforward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-lookingstatements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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