Vedanta Resources Plc, which this month announced a $1.1 billion initial public offering for unit Konkola Copper Mines Plc, said it will pursue the sale in 2011 because of swings in market prices.
Vedanta, with 79 percent of the Zambian copper miner, took the decision because of the “year-end approaching and the current stock market volatility,” it said in a statement today. The Zambian government controls the remaining stake in Konkola.
Vedanta, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, on Nov. 16 announced plans to list Konkola in London and Lusaka to expand mines in Zambia and pay debt. Konkola, which runs Zambia’s Konkola and Nchanga mines, plans to raise its copper output to 400,000 metric tons a year by 2014 from 173,000 tons last year.
Falling shares before the year-end have stalled the IPOs of mining companies including Ferrous Resources Ltd., which shelved an offer in London for a second time in two years. Petropavlovsk Plc, Russia’s third-largest gold producer, said tough markets were casting doubt on whether its iron ore IPO would succeed.
Vedanta on Nov. 19 agreed on $6 billion of lending with a group of eight banks for its proposed purchase of a controlling stake in Cairn India Ltd. Vedanta, a producer of copper, zinc, aluminum and iron ore, agreed in August to pay as much as $9.6 billion to gain access to India’s biggest onshore oil field.
The company fell 24 pence, or 1.2 percent, to 1,986 pence, the lowest level since Sept. 8, by the 4:30 p.m. London close.
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