One of the big four audit firms is said to be assisting on the sale.
New Delhi: Vedanta group company Hindustan ZincNSE 3.03 % has put its wind energy assets on the block, according to sources aware of the matter.
The assets are valued at around Rs 1,500 crore and were described as ‘non-core’ by an executive aware of the company’s plans.
Two renewable energy players backed by multilateral financial institutions are vying for the business, according to these sources.
One of the big four audit firms is said to be assisting on the sale.
The wind power plants are located in five states — Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. All the plants have power offtake agreements with state electricity boards in their respective states.
The company also has solar power plants though these are for captive use.
A Vedanta group spokesperson said in an emailed response to ET’s queries, “We are in the regulatory delisting process and cannot give forward looking statements.”
The Udaipur-headquartered company had previously attempted to sell the wind energy business four years ago but shelved the plan because it did not get the price it was looking for at the time.
The sale of the wind assets could help the zinc producer add to its significant cash pile that amounted to $2.65 billion, according to an August 2019 investor presentation on its website.
The funds will come in handy to assist a delisting process announced by parent Vedanta, according to a person aware of the matter.
Vedanta will need around $2.5 billion to finance the delisting process. Cash raised through asset sales in group firms such as Hindustan Zinc could be distributed as dividend to the parent and help meet those funding requirements, this person said.
Hindustan Zinc ranks amongst the top two miners of zinc and lead globally along with Glencore. It also ranks amongst the world’s top 10 producers of silver. Almost 75 per cent of its zinc production is sold to steel companies that in turn supply to the automobiles, infrastructure, construction and railways sectors.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes
