Board meet agenda of Cairn India: No royalty relief!

[JLuc]

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbc-t ... 63325.html

Board meet agenda of Cairn India: No royalty relief!

Published on Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 22:13 | Source : CNBC-TV18
Updated at Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 23:06

Cairn India is caught between a rock and a hard place-even if its board was to drop the proposed deal with Vedanta, it will have to bear the burden of royalty as per the government’s directive. CNBC-TV18’s Sajeet Manghat and Ashwin Mohan say the decision will be taken when the board meets on July 24.

The board of Cairn India has been pushed into a corner by the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) to make royalty cost recoverable at the Barmer fields. The options before the board are limited, even if it were to reject the proposed takeover by Vedanta, the government is clear that it will not give up on its claim of the company bearing the royalty burden. CNBC-TV18 learns the Cairn India board is unhappy with the turn of events.

Omkar Goswami, Cairn India board member and head of the committee for minority shareholders had earlier opposed any move to make royalty cost recoverable. CNBC-TV18 learns that the Oil Ministry is yet to send an official communication to Cairn India.

Sources say that the delay is primarily because the decision of the CCEA will go back to the GOM and then to the nodal ministry - i.e oil ministry. This is before it will be communicated to the concerned parties which includes Cairn Energy, Vedanta Resources and Cairn India.

It is learnt that Cairn India's board may discuss the CCEA’s pre-conditions over a concall this weekend and CEO Rahul Dhir will join in from the US. The Cairn India board which convenes every quarter in the UK is likely to meet for the last time at the Cairn Energy headquarters ahead of the earnings that will be released in the last week of July.

The board will also take cognizance of Vedanta hiking its stake to 28.5% in Cairn India making itself eligible for board seats post this transaction.

The reconstitution of the board may also be part of the AGM agenda in the third week of august. All eyes will be on the independent directors and how they will take a stand on the royalty and cess arbitration.

[JLuc]

"The board will also take cognizance of Vedanta hiking its stake to 28.5% in Cairn India making itself eligible for board seats post this transaction."

--> Ils annoncent comme un acquis le fait que Vedanta monte de 18,5% à 28,5% dans Cairn India, en rachetant la première partie de 10% de titres à Cairn...

Et dans la foulée, Vedanta doit obtenir un (ou plusieurs) siège(s) au Conseil d'Administration de Cairn India...

"The reconstitution of the board may also be part of the AGM agenda in the third week of august. All eyes will be on the independent directors and how they will take a stand on the royalty and cess arbitration."

==> Même si le board actuel de Cairn India vote contre les conditions imposées par le gouvernement indien, on commence à parler de reconstitution du board lors de la prochaine AG de Cairn India pour la troisième semaine d'août. Il est très probable que Vedanta et Cairn obtiennent la majorité des sièges à eux deux, à moins qu'une résolution concernant le paiement des royalties ne soit mise au vote, et quand on sait que Vedanta et Cairn disposent à eux deux d'environ 80% des droits de vote de Cairn India, le résultat semble évident.

[OlaV Ouafouaf]

Je trouve le silence de Vedanta assourdissant.
L'intérêt des propriétaires actuels et futur est de refuser cet oukase.

Ce Board "indépendant" est bien pratique pour contrer le gvt Indien et éviter à Ved de l'affronter directement.
Vu le nombre d'affaires et la masse des investissements que l'Indo-britannique a dans le pays, tous conflits ouverts risquent d'être extrêmement dommageables.

A noter que le ministre de l'environnement de l'Andhra Pradesh, Jairam Ramesh, a été "promu" au développement rural de la fédération.
Jairam Ramesh fut connu pour avoir stopper de grands projets industriels (Vedanta-Orissa) de manière considérée comme arbitraire tel les édits de rajah.
Jairam Ramesh's shifting from Environment

Je trouve le silence de Vedanta assourdissant, disais-je, mais silence ne veut pas dire inactivité.

[OlaV Ouafouaf]

Un autre ministre à avoir été évincé:
"It is said that you tried to block the Cairn-Vedanta transaction. You imposed tough conditions on the deal and that delayed the transaction announced in August last year.

You have facts before you. Cairn had sought government permission only in November. Just days before I was moved to the Corporate Affairs Ministry, we had proposed certain conditions to protect the interests of public sector company ONGC. After six months, a group of ministers and the CCEA (Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs) has endorsed the same. You can't say that entire cabinet tried to block a deal.

It is said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not happy with you for delaying the deal and this was one of the reasons for you to quit."

Union Corporate Affairs Minister Murli Deora likely to step down