NEW DELHI: Omar Davis, a veteran banker who was overseeing the restructuring of Vedanta Group, has left the metals conglomerate inside a yr of taking the function, dealing a contemporary blow to its efforts to cut back a multibillion-dollar debt load, folks aware of the matter mentioned.
Davis, who was named as president for technique at Vedanta Assets Ltd. final yr, was working carefully with the group’s lenders and shareholders to supervise its mega overhaul introduced in September, they mentioned, asking to not be named as the knowledge isn’t public.The group had clinched a take care of collectors in January to increase the maturities of three greenback bonds.
The resignation might affect mining tycoon Anil Agarwal’s plans to separate India models Vedanta Ltd. and Hindustan Zinc Ltd. into a number of authorized entities to simplify a posh monetary construction and lift funds. Davis, who spent virtually 20 years with Financial institution of America Corp. earlier than becoming a member of Vedanta, is without doubt one of the most senior bankers masking the mining sector and was serving to Agarwal with the overhaul.
A spokesperson for Vedanta Group didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Davis declined to remark.
Vedanta Assets plans to slash its debt by $3 billion over the following three years and scale back the standalone borrowings to lower than $3 billion, based on a March 20 change submitting. The London-based mum or dad plans to deleverage with out rising debt at unit Vedanta Ltd., it mentioned.
The plan to restructure the companies remains to be fraught, and hinges on shareholder, lender and regulatory approvals. A key complication is also the group’s use of its personal inventory in Vedanta Ltd. and in key cash-generating unit Hindustan Zinc to safe debt.
Shares of Vedanta Ltd. rose 3% at 9:20 am in Mumbai buying and selling on Thursday, whereas that of Hindustan Zinc gained 2.6%, to the best stage in eight months.