Vedanta makes a fresh bid to sell steel biz ESL

After failed December attempt, Citigroup, JPMorgan mandated for sale

- Satish John & Anirudh Laskar

 

Billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd is seeking to sell ESL Steel Ltd, formerly known as Electrosteel Steels Ltd, after acquiring the asset for ₹5,320 crore through a bankruptcy resolution process five years ago, two people familiar with the development said.

A previous attempt to sell the asset in late December failed as certain approvals, including environmental clearance and expansion plan, were still pending, turning prospective buyers cautious.

The mandate for selling the asset in Bokaro, Jharkhand, is with bankers including Citigroup and JPMorgan’s India offices, the people said, on condition of anonymity. The mandate may also include the iron ore mines in Goa and Karnataka, they said, adding that the details and contours of the asset will be known by mid-August. The price tag for ESL and the iron ore assets would be between $2 billion and $3 billion, the people said on condition of anonymity.

Although Agarwal, on numerous occasions, alluded to the focus of his group on non-ferrous metals, such as aluminium, zinc, and copper, the group entered the ferrous metal sector when it aggressively bid for stressed steel assets.

Since the change of ownership, ESL has been in recovery mode, recording its highest production in FY23. ESL also increased its hot metal capacity to 1.7 million tonnes and has plans to expand to 3 million tonnes by early FY25.