Vedanta offers bond with one of highest yields in Asia

Mining giant Vedanta Resources Ltd. is offering one of the highest yielding dollar bond sales in Asia this year, as pressures at the company mount.

The company is marketing benchmark-sized dollar notes due in Jan. 2024, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak about it. Pricing was narrowed to a 13.875% to 14% range at final guidance, from initial levels of about 14.5%, the same person said.

Strains have been increasing at the company, which is controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, after its attempt to delist Indian unit Vedanta Ltd. failed in October. The planned delisting would have given the parent easier access to cash there. Moody’s Investors Service lowered Vedanta Resources’s credit rating further into junk territory earlier this month.

Investors had sought a yield of about 15%, people familiar with the matter had said Tuesday, with the company considering some additional conditions including a debt limit on its subsidiaries that are guarantors of the planned note.

Vedanta plans to use the money to finance a buyback offer for $670 million of notes maturing in June 2021. Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, DBS Bank Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Standard Chartered Plc are working on the deal, which is expected to price later on Wednesday.

(By Ameya Karve, with assistance from Finbarr Flynn and Priscila Azevedo Rocha)