Vedanta's Indian Units' Board To Meet Saturday On Restructuring Proposals

Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. (500900.BY) and Sesa Goa Ltd. (500295.BY) said Friday their boards will meet Saturday to consider proposals for a restructuring, which analysts say will likely help their parent Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN) to service its debt better.

The announcements come after London-listed Vedanta Resources said Tuesday it is considering a restructure "to simplify and consolidate its corporate structure." The India-focused miner had not elaborated on the plans.

On Tuesday, Indian news station CNBC TV18 reported, citing sources it didn't name, that Vedanta is seeking to merge metals producer Sterlite and iron-ore miner Sesa Goa, so that Sterlite becomes the holding company for all of Vedanta's Indian operations, including its majority stake in oil and gas explorer Cairn India Ltd. (532792.BY).

Vedanta owns 54.6% of Sterlite and 55.1% of Sesa Goa, according to its website. Sterlite owned a 64.9% stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (500188.BY) as of December end, data from Indian stock exchanges showed.

The news station also said Vedanta is in talks to buy the Indian government out of Bharat Aluminium Co., in which the London-listed firm owns a 51% stake via Sterlite Industries.

An announcement on the likely restructuring is expected over the weekend, the news station said.

-By Kenan Machado, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

--Alex MacDonald and Ian Walker in London contributed to this story