By Felix Njini
JOHANNESBURG(Reuters) – Vedanta Resources, is considering a U.S. public listing for its Zambian unit Konkola Copper Mines as one of its options to try to raise about $1 billion for mine development, three sources familiar with the details, told Reuters.
The miner, owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, has hired Barclays and Citigroup to advise on the plans for an initial public offering, said the sources, who declined to be named due to sensitivity around the discussions.
Vedanta is considering New York as one of the options to list KCM, as the Zambian unit is known, the sources said.
They said the discussions were at an early stage and a timeline had yet to be finalised.
A spokesperson for Vedanta Resources declined to comment beyond saying various options were under consideration.
“We continue to evaluate a range of financing options, including internal accruals, debt instruments, and equity options, as we invest and grow our operations across the world,” the spokesperson said.
Citigroup declined to comment, while Barclays did not respond to emailed questions from Reuters.
Vedanta has said it wants to raise capital as part of its plans to gradually increase copper output to about 300,000 metric tons per year over the next five years.
KCM’s output dwindled as Agarwal fought a protracted legal battle to reclaim the assets after former Zambian president Edgar Lungu’s administration forced KCM into provisional liquidation. It had accused Vedanta of failing to invest to boost copper production.
Agarwal regained control of the copper mines, smelter and refinery last year.
Vedanta has since established a U.S.-based entity, Global Transition Resources Inc., which it said in a post on Linkedin produces copper, cobalt and gold in Africa.
Reuters could not immediately establish whether Global Transition Resources would be the entity to house the assets in question in the event of a U.S. listing.
Copper, with uses from power to construction, is in demand from the electric vehicle sector and new applications such as data centres for artificial intelligence.
Vedanta said KCM holds one of the world’s highest grade deposits of copper, together with reserves of about 400,000 tons of cobalt, another mineral needed for the transition to cleaner energy.
Since recovering the assets from the Zambian government, Vedanta has secured short-term financing and started paying debts to local creditors, including bills for supplies of electricity, which had built up during the period. It also increased spending on the communities surrounding the mines.
Vedanta last year attempted to sell a stake to United Arab Emirates-based International Resources Holding (IRH), but the deal collapsed due to valuation differences, Reuters reported.
A separate process to sell at least a 30% equity stake in the mines had not been successful, leaving listing as one of the most viable options, one of the sources said.
Vedanta Resources, the UK-based parent of Indian miner Vedanta Ltd owns an 80% shareholding in KCM and the Zambian government holds the remaining 20% stake through state investment firm ZCCM-IH.
Vedanta is splitting its oil-to-metals conglomerate into five separate businesses, with plans to separately list the units.
(Reporting by Felix Njini in Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Hritam Mukherjee; Editing by Veronica Brown and Barbara Lewis)
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