Sterlite Raises $1.75 Billion in Top Indian ADR Sale (Update3)
June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the copper and zinc producer controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, sold $1.75 billion of stock in the U.S., the biggest overseas share sale by an Indian company.
Sterlite, based in Mumbai, sold 130.44 million American depositary receipts at $13.44 apiece, the unit of Vedanta Resources Plc said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange today. One ADR is equal to one local share.
The company's share price more than quadrupled in the past two years as prices of copper, aluminum and zinc reached record highs. Demand for Indian shares lifted the nation's stock market past $1 trillion in value last month and ICICI Bank Ltd. today sold out its record stock sale in 20 minutes.
``Foreign investors want to invest in India because they believe in the growth story,'' said Sandip Sabharwal, chief investment officer at Mumbai-based J.M. Financial Mutual Fund. ``There is enough appetite overseas for Indian offerings.''
India's benchmark Sensitive Index has gained 41 percent in the past year as the fastest pace of economic growth in almost two decades lured overseas investors. Sterlite's sale may be eclipsed this week if ICICI Bank, India's biggest lender to consumers, completes a $4.3 billion offer in India and the U.S.
Property developer DLF Ltd. last week raised $2.4 billion in India's biggest initial offering. Lenders including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank Ltd. and UTI Bank Ltd., plan to raise $3.5 billion selling stock. The dates have yet to be set.
`Cheaper Valuation'
Competing offers would not damp demand for Sterlite shares, said A. Balasubramaniam, chief investment officer at Birla Sun Life Asset Management in Mumbai.
The stock trades at 8 times future profit, compared with 12 times for BHP Billiton Ltd. and 13 times for Rio Tinto Ltd., the world's biggest mining companies.
``Outlook on metal and mining companies in emerging markets is positive because of the region's growth prospects,'' he said. ``Sterlite's valuation is cheaper than its global peers.''
London-based Vedanta's 79.25 percent stake in the $7.4 billion company has limited the shares available to foreign investors, which own 7.4 percent of Sterlite. Vedanta's stake will drop to 63 percent after the sale.
The offering will ``increase visibility and lead to better price discovery,'' said Rakesh Arora, an analyst with Macquarie Securities in a June 15 note to clients. The stock is ``under- discovered.'' Macquarie is the only overseas broker tracking the company, the report said.
Share Rise
Sterlite's shares rose 9.5 rupees, or 1.8 percent, to 553.9 rupees at 12:44 p.m. local time on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock earlier rose as much as 3 percent, valuing Sterlite at about $7.6 billion.
Some 11.5 million shares were sold to Japanese investors in the offer, managed by Citigroup Inc, Morgan Stanley & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc.
The sale overtook Infosys Technologies Ltd.'s $1.6 billion offer last November as the biggest by an Indian company.
The proceeds will be used to finance a 2,400-megawatt power plant in eastern Orissa state that will cost about $1.9 billion, and to buy the government's 29.5 percent stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd. The company owns 65 percent of the zinc producer and is in talks with the government to buy its holding, worth $2 billion at the prevailing market price, according to the sale document.
Zinc Business
Sterlite's stock is worth 829 rupees, using the sum of parts method, with the zinc business alone making up 70 percent to the valuation, Macquarie said. The stock's worth 642 rupees even if the additional stake in Hindustan Zinc is excluded, a fifth more than the prevailing market price, the brokerage said.
The U.S. share sale comes two months after Vedanta agreed to pay $1.4 billion for 71 percent of Sesa Goa Ltd., India's biggest non-state iron-ore exporter, defeating rivals including Arcelor Mittal. Sesa gave Vedanta its first iron ore mine in India, where steel demand is growing at twice the global average.
Orissa, which holds a quarter of India's iron ore and coal deposits, has prompted steelmakers including Arcelor Mittal and Posco to announce ventures in the state. That may give Sterlite bulk users for the power plant, which may be ready by 2010.
``A foray into the power sector is the next logical step for a group that is expanding aggressively and aims to become a big player in the metals business,'' said Niraj Shah, an analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt., a Mumbai-based brokerage.
India's economic expansion has caused electricity demand to exceed supply. The nation must add 70,000-megawatt capacity in the next five years to ease a shortage. China plans to add 95,000 megawatts this year alone.
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