Cairn-Vedanta deal falling apart? Probably yes, says Kotak
Published on Mon, May 30, 2011 at 20:55 | Source : CNBC-TV18
Updated at Mon, May 30, 2011 at 23:44
The 5 member group of ministers headed by FM, Pranab Mukherjee has given conditional approval to the Cairn- Vedanta deal. Sources say the conditions may include withdrawal of the ongoing cess arbitration by cairn and accepting that royalty at the Barmer Hills is cost recoverable. So where does this leave this mega deal?
Does a conditional approval for the USD 9.4 billion Cairn-Vedanta deal mean the end of the road for the proposed transaction? Kotak, in a brokerage report, certainly thinks so.
Kotak says, “We believe Vedanta may not go ahead with the deal in its current form if royalty is treated as a cost recoverable item or Cairn has to bear royalty proportionate to its production from the key Rajasthan block. We note that the fair value of Cairn would decline by Rs 59 a share if royalty is made cost recoverable. We doubt Cairn Energy or Vedanta would agree to this condition.”
Kotak has retained its Reduce rating on Cairn India with a target price of Rs 340 a share.
Meanwhile Brics Securities says, “if cairn India has to bear its pro-rata share of royalty and pay cess at Rs 2,601/ton, the company's NAV would fall by 18% to Rs 250 a share.”
Brics Securities expects Cairn India's FY12 and FY13 profits to slump by 24.1% and 24% to Rs 4730 crore and Rs 5970 crore respectively. The brokerage firm's target price for cairn India is Rs 305 a share
RBS says the major risk is from delays in government approval to hike production at Rajasthan, which could reduce FY12-13f EPS by 8-16%. RBS says “The biggest risk, in our view, is that unless the issue is resolved to the satisfaction of ONGC, CIL's growth plans in the Rajasthan block could well be impacted as all investment decisions relating to raising the approved oil production level or to carry out further exploration work need to be pre-approved by ONGC and then GoI.”
Needless to say Cairn Energy is not pleased with the GoMs recommendations. There is buzz that Cairn Energy is exploring recourse under Bilateral Investment & Protection Agreement with the UK.
Ce que l'on conçoit bien, s'énonce clairement, Et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément. BOILEAU