The Delisting of Vedanta – What Went Wrong?

Abstract

Unlike the concept of IPO, contra IPO or going private by delisting process is not so familiar among many. By buying back the publicly traded shares and acquiring majority of stake, the promoters of a company try to delist themselves from the stock markets. In March 2020, the UK based mining giant Vedanta Resources Plc. has come up with the delisting proposal of its Indian subsidiary Vedanta limited. However, the delisting was not successful. Analysts have identified that low offer price and unconfirmed bids were the primary reasons for the failure of Vedanta Limited’s delisting. The objective of the current case study is to throw light on the delisting and reverse book building process through the case of Vedanta’s delisting failure. It narrates the entire saga of Vedanta Limited’s delisting right from the announcement to the reverse book building process. The case also helps in understanding the reasons behind such delisting failures.