25th Aug 2006 07:00
Vedanta Resources PLC25 August 2006 25 August 2006 OFFER TO PURCHASE MAILED TO SHAREHOLDERS OF STERLITE GOLD LTD. Vedanta Resources plc ("Vedanta") announced today that it is mailing itstake-over bid circular and offer to purchase to Sterlite Gold Ltd. shareholders.The offer to purchase is being made through Vedanta's wholly-owned subsidiaryTwin Star International Limited ("TSI"), and is being made for all of theoutstanding common shares of Sterlite Gold Ltd. (TSX:SGD) ("Sterlite Gold") notalready owned by TSI at an offer price of C$0.258 in cash per common share (the"Sterlite Gold Offer"). The Sterlite Gold directors' circular, which is beingmailed with Vedanta's offer to purchase, contains the unanimous recommendationof the Sterlite Gold board of directors that shareholders accept the SterliteGold Offer and tender their common shares to the Sterlite Gold Offer. The Sterlite Gold Offer is open for acceptance until 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on30 September 2006, unless withdrawn or extended, and is subject to certainconditions as set out in the offer to purchase. At present, the offer to purchase has not been mailed to the relatively smallproportion of Sterlite Gold shareholders resident in the United States. It isVedanta's intention to include U.S. resident shareholders in the Sterlite GoldOffer subject to securing all required regulatory approvals. Vedanta does notwish to delay making the Sterlite Gold Offer and preventing the substantialmajority of Sterlite Gold shareholders resident outside the United States fromconsidering and tendering to the Sterlite Gold Offer. Assuming that allnecessary U.S. regulatory approvals are obtained, it is anticipated that theoffer to purchase together with such additional information as is required underU.S. securities laws to permit the Sterlite Gold Offer to be made in the UnitedStates, will be mailed to U.S. shareholders as soon as practicable. Vedanta originally announced its intention to make the Sterlite Gold Offer onJune 13, 2006 and as part of this transaction, Vedanta entered into an agreementpursuant to which it has acquired, through its wholly-owned subsidiary WelterTrading Limited ("Welter"), the entire issued share capital of TSI, the holderof 146,039,658 common shares of Sterlite Gold representing 55.0% of SterliteGold's issued and outstanding common shares, for C$37.68 million in cash priorto which neither Vedanta nor Welter owned or controlled any common shares ofSterlite Gold. Sterlite Gold shareholders are advised to read Vedanta's offer to purchase andcircular, the directors' circular and related documents which have been filedwith the Canadian securities regulatory authorities as they contain importantinformation. Shareholders may obtain a copy of the material (when available) onSEDAR at www.sedar.com. Further information regarding Vedanta Resources plc or Welter Trading Limited,including a copy of the early warning report to be filed with the Canadiansecurities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, can be obtained bycontacting: Sumanth Cidambi [email protected] Director - Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 4732 / +91 22 6646 1531Vedanta Resources plc Faeth BirchAlex PettiferFinsbury 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