Vedanta board approves interim dividend of Rs 9.5 per share aggregating to Rs 3,500 crore

Days after failing to delist its stock, the Vedanta board on Saturday evening approved an interim dividend of Rs 9.50 per share for the current fiscal amounting to Rs 3,500 crore. The board has fixed October 31, 2020, as the record date for the same.

"The Board of Directors of the Company through a resolution passed by circulation on Saturday, October 24, 2020, have approved First Interim Dividend of Rs 9.50 per equity share i.e. 950 per cent on the face value of Re. 1 per share for the Financial Year 2020-21 amounting to Rs 3,500 Crores. The record date for the purpose of payment of the dividend is Saturday, October 31, 2020. The interim dividend will be paid within stipulated timelines as prescribed under the law," the company said in a stock exchange filing.

The interim dividend will be paid within stipulated timelines as prescribed under the law, it added. Shareholders of the company were waiting for the announcement for the dividend from it after Vedanta's delisting process failed this month. The total number of shares tendered by Vedanta Ltd's public shareholders fell 7 per cent short of the mandatory minimum of 90 per cent for successful delisting. It failed on account of a large number of unconfirmed orders.

In a regulatory filing, Vedanta had said its buyback offer is deemed to have failed as per the terms of the delisting regulations after promoter Vedanta Resources did not receive the required number of shares to delist the firm. A large number of unconfirmed bids and some technical glitches in the tender process are likely to have contributed to the failure.

Vedanta's delisting offer

Vedanta Ltd on October 10, 2020, announced its voluntary delisting offer in which it wanted to acquire the balance shareholding in the Mumbai-listed Vedanta Ltd so that it can delist itself from the stock exchange. However, the offer failed at the reverse book building stage.

The delisting process failed as the promoters of the company sought to buy out 169.73 crore shares or 47.67 per cent stake held by the company to delist the firm. But it failed as 125.47 crore shares were validly tendered by public shareholders, which is less than the minimum number of offer shares required to be accepted by the promoters in order for the delisting offer to be successful.