Vedanta’s bond plan faces query on $600 mn loan funds

$250 mn of $500mn loan still not drawn: Vedanta

- Nehal Chaliawala

On Monday, when ratings agency Moody’s disclosed that Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL) is looking to raise $750 million through unsecured dollar bonds to refinance a $550 million loan, Viceroy Research had a pointed question.

What happened to the proceeds of a $600 million loan the Vedanta Group’s holding company had raised in June? That loan too, after all, was availed to refinance the same $550 million private credit facility, which carries an eye-watering interest rate of 18%, the New York-based short-seller said in a note on Monday. “It appears these funds have been spent on other uses.”