Rating Rationale
April 03, 2020 | Mumbai
Vedanta Star Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Negative'; Ratings Withdrawn
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.3400 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA/Negative (Outlook revised from 'Stable' and rating reaffirmed and withdrawn)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has revised its rating outlook on the long-term bank loan facilities of Vedanta Star Limited (VSL) to 'Negative' from 'Stable', while reaffirming the rating at 'CRISIL AA'. Subsequently, the rating has been withdrawn as the facilities have been transferred to Electrosteel Steels Ltd (ESL; 'CRISIL AA/Negative/CRISIL A1+'), after amalgamation with ESL, effective from March 25, 2020. The rating action follows receipt of the required documentation in line with CRISIL's withdrawal policy.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the rating, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of VSL and ESL, given that the former was established as a holding company to acquire ESL. Additionally, CRISIL has factored in strong support from the erstwhile parent of VSL, Vedanta Ltd (Vedanta), because of strong business and financial linkages.

Please refer Annexure - List of entities consolidated, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation.

About the Company

VSL was incorporated on April 23, 2018, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Vedanta, to acquire ESL under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, after Vedanta's resolution plan for ESL was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on April 17, 2018. Through this deal, VSL had acquired 90% stake in ESL for Rs 5,320 crore, which, as per the resolution plan, was used to repay erstwhile lenders/financial creditors. ESL was delisted and VSL acquired additional shares as buy back under SEBI's order for exit offer and guidelines. Effective March 25, 2020 (effective date), as per NCLT approved scheme of amalgamation, VSL (the holding company) merged with ESL (the operating company). Post this merger Vedanta now directly holds 95.5% (approx) shares of ESL.  From the effective date, VSL ceases to exist as an entity and all its assets, liabilities, debts, borrowings etc now stands transferred to the books of ESL. The company has current operational capacity of 1.5 mtpa and is currently evaluating proposal to increase capacity to 3 mtpa over the medium term.

About the parent
Vedanta is a diversified metals, mining, power, and oil-and-gas company. It is held 50.1% by Vedanta Resources Ltd, which is based in London. Vedanta's operations include copper, iron ore, and aluminium assets at Jharsuguda and Lanjigarh in Odisha, and power (2,400-megawat [MW] and 1215-MW captive power plants for the aluminium business). The company also holds aluminium operations through its subsidiary, Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. Also, a part of the power business (1,980 MW) is conducted through wholly owned subsidiary, Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. The oil and gas business has now been merged with Vedanta, and the group operates the zinc business through Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Zinc International in South Africa and Namibia. Vedanta, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Cairn India Holdings Ltd, acquired slightly over 51% equity stake in glass substrate manufacturer AvanStrate Inc in December 2017. In June 2018, Vedanta, through its wholly owned subsidiary VSL, acquired 90% stake in ESL (current operational capacity of 1.5 mtpa) for Rs 5,320 crore. However, effective from March 25, 2020, VSL has been merged with ESL and Vedanta will now directly hold 95.5% share in ESL.

 

Key Financial Indicators - for VSL (combined with ESL)#
Particulars Unit 2019 2018
Operating income Rs crore 4,961 NA
Profit after tax (PAT)* Rs crore 1,188 NA
PAT margin % 24 NA
Adjusted debt/ Adjusted networth Times 1.2 NA
Interest coverage Times 2.7 NA
#No past financials as the company was incorporated in April 2018
*Includes exceptional items of Rs 931 crore in fiscal 2019, mainly on account of liability written back pursuant to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process.

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments. The CRISIL complexity levels are available on www.crisil.com/complexity-levels. Users are advised to refer to the CRISIL complexity levels for instruments that they consider for investment. Users may also call the Customer Service Helpdesk with queries on specific instruments.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of Instrument Date of
Allotment
Coupon
Rate (%)
Maturity
Date
Issue Size
(Rs Cr)
Rating Assigned
with Outlook
NA Term Loan NA NA Jun-28 2840 Withdrawn
NA Rupee Term Loan NA NA Jun-28 560 Withdrawn
 
Annexure - List of entities consolidated
Name of company Type of consolidation Rationale for consolidation
Electrosteel Steels Ltd Full consolidation Strong financial & operational linkage
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2020 (History) 2019  2018  2017  Start of 2017
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  3400.00  Withdrawn  10-01-20  CRISIL AA/Stable  07-09-19  CRISIL AA(CE)/Stable  02-07-18  CRISIL AA(SO)/Positive    --  -- 
            22-02-19  CRISIL AA(SO)/Stable           
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
Annexure - Details of various bank facilities
Current facilities Previous facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating
Rupee Term Loan 560 Withdrawn Rupee Term Loan 560 CRISIL AA/Stable
Term Loan 2840 Withdrawn Term Loan 2840 CRISIL AA/Stable
Total 3400 -- Total 3400 --
Links to related criteria
Criteria for rating instruments backed by guarantees
Rating Criteria for Steel Industry
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
The Rating Process
Understanding CRISILs Ratings and Rating Scales

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