Cairn-Vedanta deal: SEBI seeks full details from banker

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has sought stringent disclosures in a recent letter to the merchant banker handling the Vedanta Resources open offer to shareholders of Cairn India.

The regulator has reportedly sought response to all questions raised by the petroleum ministry with regard to the transaction. Vedanta Resources, controlled by London-based billionaire Anil Agarwal, had agreed to buy up to 60 per cent of Scottish firm Cairn Energy's Indian unit for $9.6 billion over three weeks ago.

SEBI will give directions to the merchant banker JM Financial to provide more disclosures in the revised final letter of offer. ''All the regulatory sanctions that are required, need to be revealed to investors, or any other information that is detrimental to investors will have to be disclosed,'' a SEBI official told The Economic Times. ''We have enquired through the merchant banker and their reply has to come,'' he said.

Speaking to reporters at Cairn India's annual general meeting on Thursday, Cairn Energy chief executive officer and Cairn India chairman Bill Gammell said, ''SEBI will look at the financials of the transaction and will decide on the open offer price.''

SEBI is likely to direct the group to disclose the pre-emptive rights of Oil and Natural Gas Corp to Cairn India's assets.

Recently, the state-owned energy company wrote to the two stock exchanges of ''its pre-emptive rights in relation to Cairn's participatory interest under the various agreements with the government of India and ONGC'', and that ''Cairn Energy and / or its affiliates require consent of ONGC besides other governmental approvals to consummate the proposed transaction''.